The New Teacher
by MizDenton
Summary: A non-mutant teacher accepts a teaching job at The Xavier School for Extraordinary Youngsters.
1. Part 1, Chs 1 through 8

Disclaimer before the disclaimer: I started this story five years ago, after I saw both X-Men movies in the space of two days. This story completely ignores the events of X3. This is longest story I've ever written. The next story I write that is this long, I hope I get paid for it. *G*

Because this story is so massive, I am going to post in three chunks. The Prolouge and Chapters 1-8 first, then Chapters 9-16, then Chapters 17-25 last. Each posting will be four days apart so that you'll have plenty of time to digest the story. *BG*

Please send any and all comments, chocolate, cute mutants, Fedcakes in Kevlar, job offers, etc. to:

Disclaimer: All I can say is "Curse you, Julie! Like I needed another fandom." I like Scott and Jean and I like the idea of a school for mutants so that's what got me going on this story. I was a teacher for 5 years, (9th Grade - it's hormones on parade) so, this story is written from the point of view of a teacher. I don't own any of these characters, although if James Marsden has a brother I wouldn't mind meeting him. :-) (Yes, I am well aware that Mr. Marsden is an actor not a character. Although I'm sure his wife would beg to differ on that opinion sometimes)

The New Teacher

An X-men story (movieverse)

By Amy M. Denton

**Prologue**

'_Seeking : Certified teacher in Composite Social Studies for Grades 6 - 12 to fill a position at The Xavier School for the Gifted, located in Westchester County, New York._

_Requirements: Resumé, teacher certificate and three letters of recommendation. Must possess mutant abilities or have an open mind toward mutants._'

Gordon Collins read the want-ad twice before reading the note attached to it.

'_Gordon,_

_We are looking for another teacher to join us at The Xavier School as we are bursting at the seams. If you know of anyone who would qualify, please give them this ad and our phone number._

_Sincerely,_

_Charles Xavier_'

A smile crossed Gordon's lips at the image presented, 'bursting at the seams' indeed. He folded the letter and slid it into the pocket of his suit coat. Professor Xavier's request would require some serious thought. He couldn't send just any teacher. If he did, they would probably run screaming from the building.

"Mr. Collins?" His secretary's voice buzzed on the intercom.

"Yes, Belinda?" He said.

"Your Board of Trustee's meeting is at 3 p.m. You'll be late if you don't leave now."

"Thank you, Belinda. I'm on my way." Gordon said. He looked at his briefcase and it floated to him. He bid Belinda good-night and left his office.

**Chapter One**

Gordon thought that this Board of Trustees meeting for The Crestwell School, a tony private school near Chappaqua, NY, would be close to the same as all the others he attended. Dry as dust and about as exciting as watching paint peel. He kept attending the meetings though because it garnered so much goodwill with his well-heeled clientele.

Gordon was wrong.

Apparently, the start of the school year really brought out the complaints. A half-hour into the meeting, right between the treasurer's report and club announcements, a bomb was dropped that no one saw coming.

"I don't care! She's not getting paid to state her opinions, she's getting paid to teach!"

All heads turned toward the end of the table, where Clifford Wells, a relatively new member of the board sat, glaring at Claire Satterfield, an older member of the board, older meaning she'd served on The Crestwell School's board for over ten years.

"Honestly, Cliff, you act as if she's advocating pagan worship. She's only encouraging the children to think for themselves." Claire replied, calmly. Tall and thin with a model's build and complexion, Claire could have passed for one of the younger teachers at The Crestwell School, instead of one of its trustees.

"That's not what my son told me." Cliff replied, fairly trembling with righteous indignation. "Dylan told me that she was encouraging the other students to accept mutants as normal members of society. She told all of her students that she was against The Mutant Registration Act and then proceeded to use it and the Civil Rights Act as examples of what happens when the government tries to set the norms for society."

Gordon's ears perked up. If this teacher, whoever she was, had Cliff Wells in such a dither, she would be perfect.

"Dylan told you all that, did he?" Claire asked.

"Yes, he did. What are you implying, that my son is stupid?" Cliff demanded of Claire. Cliff was the 180˚ opposite of Claire and, as the saying goes, the apple, Dylan, didn't fall far from the tree, Cliff.

"Of course not," Claire soothed. "I just never knew that Dylan has such amazing powers of recall." She frowned at Cliff and added "I bet your family was against the Civil Rights Act, weren't they?"

Cliff scowled and said "If you've got something to say, why don't you come out and say it?"

"All right. I am saying, quite firmly, that you need to calm down. It's people like you that made the Civil Rights Act a necessity. Just what do you think the mutants are going to do? Rise up and overthrow their masters like the slaves did? Did it ever occur to you that if they wanted to take over society they already would have? You are an intelligent man, Cliff, I am appalled that you would buy into such drivel and nonsense."

At least the meeting wasn't dull any more. Gordon silently cheered Claire on. She had a knack for getting to the heart of a matter. She was also the most diplomatic person on the Board of Trustees.

Cliff's mouth opened then closed, then opened again. Before he could reply, though, he was interrupted by Brandon Ware, the chairman of the board. From his position at the head of the table, he glared at both Cliff and Claire.

Cliff, wisely, shut his mouth.

"Don't look quite so annoyed, Cliff." Brandon said. "We'll come back to this when we discuss teacher evaluations. We just haven't gotten there yet."

Gordon raised his hand and got Brandon's attention.

"Yes, Gordon?"

"Who is this teacher and what does she teach?" Gordon asked.

Brandon looked down the table at Cliff, who said nothing.

"Oh, honestly, Cliff, you complain about her but you won't tell anyone her name?" Claire said. "You're acting like some weird dog in the manger."

A ripple of laughter spread through the trustees.

"Look, I just want to see if she has horns growing out of her head. If she's as bad as you say, she should be easy to spot, name or no. After listening to you, I'd think you'd welcome the chance to get rid of her."

"Why do you care, Gordon? What are you doing to do, give her a job?" Cliff replied.

"If she has to put up with you and your child on a daily basis, I'll give her a medal." Gordon replied.

Another ripple of laughter drifted through the trustees.

"Her name is Kate Renard." Claire supplied. "She teaches U.S. History."

"Folks," Brandon said "we've got a lot to cover and I, for one, would like to get home before it turns dark. So, if you don't mind..."

The meeting settled back into its normal rhythm of reports and votes and other minutiae but Gordon noticed very little of it. He had just found a new teacher for The Xavier School for Gifted Children and nothing else mattered.

*******************

The next afternoon, Gordon stood outside Kate Renard's classroom and listened to her skillfully lead a discussion comparing and contrasting the Civil Rights Act and the current mutant 'problem'. No wonder Cliff Wells was having such a fit. Kate Renard actually thought and boy, Cliff couldn't have people like that around his son. Dylan might start to think for himself too. Oh, the horror.

The transom at the top of the door was cracked open just enough so that bits of conversation drifted out.

"What are you? Some kind of mutant freak?" a young male voice from inside the classroom grabbed Gordon's attention.

"Take that back!" another young male voice said.

"Make me!" the first voice shouted.

"Your mama's a mutant!" the second voice shouted back.

Gordon winced. Memories of school before The Xavier School bubbled to the surface of his mind.

"Gentlemen," a decidingly female voice, mostly like Kate Renard's, interrupted the two young men. "this is a debate, not a name-calling session." Her voice rose not one decibel but her meaning was crystal clear. *Knock it off.*

He had to smile.

"Both of your mama's would be shocked by your behavior." Kate continued.

"Brandon's mom wouldn't." a helpful third voice said.

"Christopher..." Kate began, then addressed the two arguing students. "The whole point of this exercise is to show how and why prejudices get started. And you two have just proven my point."

Gordon nodded in agreement. Ignorance and fear of different people was a learned behavior.

"Back in the '60's, one of the 'things' you might call someone was 'nigger lover'. We, as a society, have moved beyond that. But how far? Have we merely replaced one prejudice with another?" Kate asked her students. "Why is it so bad to be called a mutant? Did you know that some of them can move things just by thinking about that thing? Pretty cool, if you ask me."

Gordon smiled again. Kate would be perfect fit for The Xavier School. He had better act quickly though, with Cliff Wells gunning for her, Kate's tenure at The Crestwell School was bound to be short.

***************

And it was. It was so short, she never saw the end coming. Why would she? She worked hard and kept controversy to a minimum in her classroom. Occasionally, she used something controversial like The Mutant Registration Act as an example of the persecution of a specific group of people but it was only as a teaching aid. It wasn't as if she was advocating on behalf of mutants everywhere. She didn't even know any mutants. At least, she didn't *think* she knew any mutants.

Privately, she thought that nobody, mutant or not, should be singled out and made to feel inferior or suffer for something they had no control over. Publicly, she had no opinion one way or the other. Mutants simply did not exist in her world. She heard them mentioned on the news or read about them in paper but that was the extent of her involvement with them.

Until she was fired from her job because of them.

"Fired?" Kate said, staring at the headmaster in disbelief.

"In a nutshell, yes." Headmaster Stevens replied. He steepled his fingers and tried to project an air of power. He failed miserably owing to the fact that he was not much older than Kate herself.

"May I ask whose child I offended this time?" Kate demanded, not letting her temper go. It would do no good to antagonize Headmaster Stevens. She might need him for a recommendation.

"Now, Kate, you've been warned and warned and warned about advocating for mutant rights. We just don't discuss things like that here." He replied evenly.

"What?!" Kate's bewilderment burned away to a white hot anger; forget the recommendation. "My students wrote one essay, ONE, on whether or not The Mutant Registration Act was necessary and that was TWO MONTHS AGO! I don't even know any mutants so how could I advocate for them ?!"

Headmaster Stevens cleared his throat and pulled out a manilla folder with her name on it. He opened the folder and proceeded to read from a list of all the times that Kate so much as said the word 'mutant' in class, much less give an assignment on them.

For the second time in ten minutes, Kate was speechless. Just what had she done to deserve this?

He closed the folder and put it on the desk in front of him. Steepling his fingers again, he said "While The Crestwell School does pride itself on being progressive, we have to draw the line somewhere. In the '60's, it was desegregation. Today, it's mutant rights. I hate doing this to you, you're an excellent teacher but I am beholden to the parents and they have spoken. Perhaps in another ten or twenty years, mutants will be as accepted as minorities are today. Until then...You have until the end of the day to clean out your classroom and turn in your room keys. Payroll will cut your last paycheck at that time."

Kate stood and left Headmaster Stevens office. She was too stunned to do much else. Out in the hallway, she tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Fired! The word rang in Kate's head. She had never had been fired before from any job she had ever had. She was a hard worker and did what she was told. Hard workers who did what they were told weren't fired.

She made it back to her classroom on autopilot. When the door didn't open, she remembered that she had locked it before getting fired. She fumbled in her pocket for the room keys but dropped them twice before giving up, sitting down on the floor and sobbing. Never before had she ever been this low. A month before Christmas and she had no job, meager savings and a mountain of debt. What was she supposed to do now?

**Chapter Two**

Gordon heard the sobs all the way down at the other end of the hallway. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the sobs belonged to. He picked up the pace of his steps. It just wouldn't be right to have anyone watch Kate Renard's nervous breakdown in the hallway.

He turned the corner and there she was, on the floor outside the classroom, sobbing as if her heart would break. Maybe it already had.

Damn. It was a very good thing that there was nothing movable in the hallway. He had a tendency to toss things when he was mad, which he was at that moment. Very, very mad.

He hastened down the hallway and came to a stop in front of Kate. The door was locked, the light off and a set of keys was on the floor next to her. Her head buried in her hands, she didn't see Gordon standing there. He picked up the keys, unlocked the room and flipped on the lights. Dropping the keys in his coat pocket, he squatted down next to Kate and coaxed her into a standing position, before maneuvering her into the classroom and finding the closest available seat. He sat down and took Kate in his arms, her sobs now muffled by him.

The longer she cried, the madder he got. What was wrong The Crestwell School? Was the headmaster that scared of the board? Didn't he realize what a great teacher he was tossing out? He had half a mind to go and have a little 'discussion' with Headmaster Stevens about Kate.

He resisted the urge. Nothing done in anger had a good outcome and while the image of Headmaster Stevens going out a window, along with Cliff Wells, had great merit, it would solve nothing. Jean would applaud his restraint. Either that or she would come and help.

Kate's sobs tapered off slowly until they stopped all together. She pulled away from Gordon and looked at him. Chestnut hair, boyish face, muscular build. He was a sharp dresser too, complete with a tie that matched his apple green eyes. She had never seen this man before and she had just made a mess out of his shirt.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to be rude but who are you?" she asked.

"You're not being rude. My name is Gordon Chambers." Gordon replied. He took a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his coat and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Kate said, dabbing at her eyes. "You'll have to excuse me, I...I just got some really bad news." She realized then that they were in her classroom but she did not remember opening the door.

The look on her face must have been enough of a cue for Gordon. He took the keys from his coat pocket and handed them to her. "The floor is such an uncomfortable place to sit." he said. "Besides, did you want the school to see that they got to you?"

She shook her head and pocketed her keys. "Nice shirt, sorry I got it wet. You wouldn't happen to be in the market for a teacher, would you? I just got fired." she said.

Gordon smiled. In spite of everything else, Kate, was determined to keep her sense of humor, tears not withstanding.

"Well, I'm not hiring but I do know of someone who is." he said. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his inside coat pocket and handed it to Kate.

She unfolded the paper and read once, twice, three times. Her mouth dropped open but no sound came out. When she had asked about hiring a teacher, she had been kidding. Never in a thousand years did she expect him to pull a job offer out of his coat pocket. Job offers didn't just fall out of the sky. Apparently, they came from a man named Gordon Chambers. Such a rapid change in fortune was enough to make a person lightheaded, especially if that person hadn't eaten since 10 o'clock that morning.

"Are you all right?" Gordon asked, watching the color drain from her face.

"I'm fine." Kate replied. "This is just a lot to take in all at once."

He nodded, knowingly. So, while Kate absorbed the job offer, Gordon got up from the desk he'd been sitting on and amused himself by looking around her classroom. Maps, drawings and pictures covered the walls. In fact, there was so much on the walls, Gordon didn't know where to start. Ororo Munroe, the social studies teacher at The Xavier School, would have a field day in Kate's classroom.

"Isn't this high a concentration of paper in such a small room, a BIG violation of the fire code?" he asked, looking at a picture of the McDonald's in Red Square.

"The Fire Marshall's son is, was, in my class. Good kid, quiet. I haven't heard two words come out of his mouth the entire semester." She said, smiling at the memory.

Gordon snorted.

She cleared her throat and he turned from a map of the world marked with the dates and places of the last 100 years of summer and winter Olympics.

"Did one of your students do this?" Gordon asked.

"Yes." Kate replied. "The last time the Olympics came around, I had them find all the Olympic locations. I gave that," she pointed at the map "as extra credit. No, it doesn't have a whole lot to do with U.S. History but what are they going to do, fire me? Oh, wait, they already did."

Gordon nodded. Ororo and Kate would definitely have a lot to talk about.

Kate looked down at the piece of paper in her hand, then back at Gordon.

"Tell me about this school. Why does the ad say 'must possess mutant abilities or be open to the idea of mutants'?" she asked.

"Why don't I help you pack up your room?" he replied. "And while I help, I'll explain."

Kate looked around her room, then at Gordon. Breaking down her classroom always took forever and it was such a pain. And now, on top of everything else, she had only the remains of that day to do it in.

"You got yourself a deal." she said.

***********************

Two hours later, with the room only half-packed, Kate called a time-out for a water break and Gordon was only too happy to stop. It might have been close to freezing outside but in Kate's classroom, it was mighty close to boiling, due, in part, to their exertions.

"Here you go." Kate said, returning from the teacher's lounge with two bottles of water. "You can sit down now."

"Yes, ma'am." Gordon replied, perching himself on the edge of a desk. "What do your students call you? Ms. Renard? Mrs. Renard?"

"You want the repeatable names? Usually my students remembered my name but sometimes it's Miss or Ma'am. I had one who called me 'Miss Lady', which was fine, at least he didn't call me something unrepeatable."

Gordon grinned in response.

Kate sat for a few moments, drank some water, then went back to work. Gordon moved to join her but she shooed him back to his seat. "Oh, sit." she said. "I'm used to being on the move. I sit still and I think I'm doing something wrong.

"You've yet to tell me" she continued "why I would want to work at a school for mutants. I've just been fired for simply talking about them." She climbed up a wobbly stepladder leaning against a bookshelf.

"Fair enough. If you take the job, you'll get paid to teach them and you can talk about them all you want." He replied.

She stretched her entire frame and reached for the last box on top of the bookshelf. "You don't know anything about me. I could be some strange anti-mutant weirdo. How do you know that I'm not?"

"I've heard you teach, you're not."

"Thank you for the compliment. Let me think on the job offer."

"All right. Are you sure that ladder is stable enough?"

"It's fine."

"You're sure you don't need any help?" He asked, listening to the ladder creak.

"Nope, I got it. If I fall, I can always sue the school for workman's comp." Kate replied, her back to Gordon. Her fingers brushed the edge of the box and Gordon offered up a silent prayer that the ladder would hold. "Tell me how you know about The Xavier School. From what you've told me, it sounds like it's completely off the radar screen of the modern world."

Her weight shifted when she spoke, the stepladder creaked again, then exploded into a thousand pieces, launching Kate into the air. She closed her eyes and braced for the landing, a landing that did not happen as it should have.

Something was holding her, tilting her upright and setting her on her feet. When she landed, she spun around and looked at Gordon, eyes wide.

"I was a student at The Xavier School." Gordon said. "What I just did is called telekinesis. You can move things just by thinking about them. Your reaction is, actually, one of the more calm ones. I've had people shriek and run the other way."

Kate snorted and said "That's just plain silly. What did they think you would do? Give it to them?"

"You would be surprised." Gordon said, with a shrug.

"I guess I would." She replied. "Thank you for keeping me from landing flat on my face."

"You're welcome. I told you that ladder wasn't stable enough."

She looked at the remains of the ladder, then looked back at Gordon and asked "Would I be completely out of line and totally rude if I asked you to move that last box for me?"

He thought for a moment, then levitated the box off the top of the bookshelf and placed it in front of Kate.

"Normally, yes. Telekinesis is not a parlor trick but considering that you nearly killed yourself just now trying to get that box, I'll make an exception.

"You need to understand something before we talk any more. I'm a mutant and proud of it. But at the same time, it's not something that I'll shout from the mountain tops. It's just that my life is easier if people think otherwise, at least until, the world is ready to accept mutants."

He picked up the box in front of Kate and turned towards the door. Before he left, he said, over his shoulder "You realize that by you knowing what I am, I'm completely at your mercy. I'm putting my complete trust and faith in you and the fact that you won't tell anyone else about me."

He left Kate standing there with more questions than answers.

****************

One question Kate never had a chance to ask Gordon was 'How?' or 'Why?' or 'When?' as in 'When did you find out?' 'How do you keep others from finding out?' 'Why you?' Kate wasn't trying to be rude or unfeeling, she was simply curious. She just wanted to know *more* about him. However, Gordon, well versed in keeping his ability secret from non-mutants, carefully steered any and all conversations any from such prying questions. Perhaps after he got to know Kate better, much better, he would tell her what she wanted to know.

Instead, Gordon told Kate all she had ever wanted to know about The Xavier School, even to the point of driving her out to the gates of the school after the appointment for the interview was made, just so Kate would know where she was going.

She appreciated all he had done for her and enjoyed the limited time they spent together. Gordon was funny and bright and a true gentleman but he held her at arm's length and would not bring her any closer to him or his world than necessary. It frustrated Kate beyond all measure, even if she did understand his reluctance.

The day of her interview dawned cold but sunny with no snow. That was Kate's first surprise of the morning. Her second surprise came in the form of a phone call from Gordon.

"I just wanted to call and wish you good luck on your interview. I know you're the best person for the job."

"Thank you, that's very sweet of you." Kate replied. "Listen, now that my interview is almost here, would you like to go out to dinner to celebrate with me? I should be back before dark."

Silence was Kate's answer.

"Gordon?" He was still there, Kate could hear papers rustling on his desk.

"I'm here." Gordon replied, finally. "I don't know. I have a lot of work to do. Call me when you get back and I'll see if I'm free. Good luck."

Kate stared at the phone for a moment before hanging up. *You'd think I'd ask him to eat snails.*

She shook her head. No time to stand around and wonder. She had an interview in front of her and she needed to concentrate on that, not Gordon.

**Chapter Three**

Seventy-five miles to the west, Gordon wished he had a new job. A new job in another part of the country, no, make that another part of the world. A part of the world that did not have network servers that could fry themselves just by sitting there.

It was only 10 a.m. and already the main server that connected the City of Croton-on-the-Hudson to the County of Westchester had gone down not once but twice. That crash started a domino effect and now, not only was the connection between the city and the county gone but also the connection between the city and the state, along with the connections of two other municipalities and it did not help that the Mayor of Croton-on-the-Hudson called every hour on the half/hour to receive an update, even if Gordon had nothing new to tell him. There were days when he truly hated his job and this was one of them.

On top of all that, he'd missed his morning coffee and had frozen on the phone, again.

A sigh escaped him. What was it about certain women that left him tongue-tied?

He could hold forth at any board meeting filled with women. He had no problem negotiating contracts with female-owned companies. He talked to his secretary, not to mention his maid, every single day without a single trip of the lip.

He got on the phone with a woman he liked and his brain stopped working. This fear of his, if that's what it truly was, had plagued him since high school. Now, at the age of 33, he'd learned the hard way and simply didn't socialize with women. It wasn't that hard. He didn't know that many women to start off with.

But then, he'd met Kate and all his intentions went right out the window and his tongue was permanently glued to the roof of his mouth, at least around her. As usual, he had not an idea of what to do to correct the problem. His social life was nil as it was. Why couldn't he just relax and trust that Kate wouldn't run away screaming? She hadn't yet.

Without warning, the coffee pot on the other side of the room levitated, poured itself into a waiting mug and returned to its warming station. The sugar bowl came next, depositing two scoops of sugar into the mug, before the mug lifted off the table, floated across the room and landed on his desk. Gordon stared at the coffee mug in front of him, having no recollection of getting any coffee.

Lord, he _was_ slipping. He never used his powers at the office, too much risk of being found out. He sipped the coffee, ignoring the taste and wondered what to do about Kate. She was one of a handful of people, his parents included, who could rob him of speech and leave him feeling like the Bumble sans teeth from the old TV show chestnut Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. If he had any sense about him, any scrap of self-preservation, he would stay far, far away from Kate Renard and save the both of them a lot of heartache. He was not marriage material, he would only break her heart. But, apparently, he didn't have any self-preservation at all, because all he could think of was Kate and how pleasant it was to be around her.

He looked back down at the computer screen and felt his eyes starting to cross. Time for a break. He stood, stretched and left everything where it was and pulled on his outside coat. He left a message for his secretary as to his whereabouts and went out the front door. A walk in the frigid air would clear his mind and, hopefully, present a solution to the crashed server. A walk might also put Kate out of his mind as well. The more he thought about her, the less inclined he was to concentrate on his job.

He set off from his office building and headed for a small park a quarter of a mile away. He would put Kate from his mind until the server was fixed. He would, really. And perhaps if he told himself that often enough, he might actually believe it.

************************

Two car wrecks, one missed turn and an hour and a half later, Kate turned her Dodge Durango into the driveway of The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, giving silent thanks to whoever was responsible for clearing the driveway. She also gave silent thanks to Gordon for showing her the way to the school. Without his instructions, she would still be wandering around greater Westchester County.

The main house came into view during her ruminations and, seeing no parking spaces, stopped just beyond the main house. A quick check of her hair, outfit and makeup showed no major problems, so, she collected her briefcase, hopped out of her SUV and locked the door.

The frigid air was a welcome contrast from the over warm air of the Durango and she inhaled greedily. She loved winter in New York, even if it did seem to last forever. She took another breath, oriented herself and headed for the mansion just off to her right. Directly across from the Gothic mansion, lay a large field covered in snow. At the far end of the field, Kate could swear she saw bleachers. Whatever the original purpose of the field was, that day, it was being used as a snowball factory. She saw six or seven children of various ages running and tossing snowballs at each other and, quite possibly, the hairiest man she had ever seen. At least, Kate hoped the hulking figure was a man.

She shook her head, immediately squashing any comparisons between the huge figure and The Pointy Haired Boss from Dilbert. "That's right, Kate." she said to herself. "Offend early and often. Get fired before you get hired." She turned from the field and the snowball fight and headed up the stairs.

She made it up to the front steps without slipping, rang the bell and waited. The massive oaken door opened soundlessly, a moment later. Behind the door, stood a small boy, staring owlishly at Kate through his glasses when she walked in. He blinked and the door swung shut. She stifled the urge to jump and remembered that she was in a school for mutants and that this child was considered normal.

"Good morning." Kate said to the boy. "I have an appointment with Professor Xavier. Could you show me where his office is?"

The boy pointed to the left, down a long hallway and said "All the way down at the end of the hall. You can't miss it." He turned and walked away before Kate could say so much as 'thank you'.

She set off in the direction the boy pointed and tried not to think about Gordon or if she had lipstick on her teeth or any one of a thousand little annoyances that flitted in her head. Two/thirds of the way down the hall, she passed a beautiful, tall, dark-skinned woman with silver hair. As they passed each other, Kate heard her mutter "When I find him..."

Kate stopped and said "Excuse me, are you looking for a big guy, muscular, lots of hair?"

The other woman stopped, turned and nodded.

"Front lawn. He's in the middle of a snowball fight." Kate said.

The other woman's lips twitched before she said "Thank you."

Kate nodded and watched her continue down the hall. Whoever that guy was, he was in BIG trouble now. At the end of the hallway, just as the boy had said was door labeled simply 'office'. She took a deep breath, whispered a short prayer and knocked on the closed door.

"Come in." a male voice, tinged with a British accent, said.

Kate opened the door and walked into an oversized room furnished in the same style as the hallway she had just walked down. Big, heavy, oaken and expensive. Massive oak bookcases ran the lengths of the walls on either side of her. Directly opposite her, sat a chalkboard and a large set of floor to ceiling French doors. Large, leather chairs were gathered in a semicircle, leaving deep impressions in the Aubuson rug. A globe stood to one side of the room.

In the midst of all this luxury sat a large oak desk, covered with books, papers and pens. Behind the desk sat an older man, bald as a billiard ball, dressed in the finest suit Kate had ever seen. He looked up when Kate came in and smiled at her. He came from out behind the desk, in a wheelchair no less, and introduced himself.

"I'm Charles Xavier." he said, holding out his hand. "Welcome to my school."

Kate smiled in return and shook hands with Professor Xavier. He had kind eyes, Kate decided and a firm grip. But what kind of interviewer would he be?

"Thank you for having me." Kate said. "Gordon has told me a lot about the school and what you do here."

Professor Xavier nodded and said "Gordon was a very bright student. He has been very successful since graduating. Please, have a seat. May I get you something to drink? Coffee? Water? Tea?"

When Kate shook her head, he moved back around his desk and the interview began. Kate pulled her resumé, teacher certification and the three recommendation letters from her briefcase and handed them to the Professor. He flipped through the sheaf of papers, then set them on his desk. He folded his hands and turned his full attention on Kate. Under that penetrating gaze, she felt like an errant child summoned to the principal's office and squirmed slightly.

"I would be remiss if I did not say that I was reluctant to even consider interviewing a non-mutant for this position. The children at this school have enough problems with the outside world without having those problems brought here." Professor Xavier said.

She nodded.

"However, after debating the issue with the other teachers, who you will meet today, we decided that the right non-mutant would be a good exposure to the outside world."

A bellow from outside the French doors followed by a string of profanity interrupted the interview. Kate jumped and stared at the doors. Professor Xavier didn't so much as turn his head. Obviously, this was a normal occurrence.

"Your credentials appear to be in order and from what Gordon has told me, you are fairly open-minded. But what I want to know is: Are you capable of treating the students here as if they were non-mutants?" Professor Xavier asked.

"When you say treat them as if they were non-mutants, do you mean will I run shrieking from the room if books start moving on their own?"

Professor Xavier nodded.

"No, I won't. Mutant or not, they are still teenagers and sometimes, things happen." Kate replied. "That said, I will not allow them to use their abilities as a crutch. They're different but that doesn't give them a pass. Frankly, they can be dipped in blue, hang from the ceiling by a tail and speak German for all I care as long as they come to class, participate and do what they're told."

At that, the Professor's lips curled into a genuine smile and he seemed amused but Kate was afraid to ask why.

A knock on the office's door brought the second interruption of the interview. Professor Xavier looked at Kate, who nodded her assent, before responding to the knock.

"Come in."

The door opened and in walked the reason for the professor's amusement; a man with curly, dark hair, blue skin and tail stood just behind Kate.

_Oh, of course_. Kate thought.

"Guten morgen, herr professor." the man said.

_Natch. If I had mentioned a ten foot tall polka dot covered man who spoke Swahili, he'd probably have walked in too_.

"Good morning, Kurt. What can I help you with?" Professor Xavier asked.

Kurt opened his mouth, saw Kate, closed his mouth, then opened it again and said "Oh, excuse me. I didn't know you were busy."

"That's quite all right." Professor Xavier said to him.

Kate twisted around in her seat to get a good look at Kurt. Except for the blue skin and the tattoos that covered him from head to foot, he was quite handsome. What would his children look like?

"Kurt," the professor continued "this is Kate Renard. She is interviewing for our teaching position." To Kate, he said "Kurt teaches German."

"Ah, wunderbar! I am Kurt Wagner but in Munich, I was known as The Incredible Nightcrawler." Kurt said, a broad smile on his face.

Incredible was not the word Kate would have used but he seemed pleasant enough.

"Now, Kurt, did you need something?" Professor Xavier asked him again.

Kurt shook his head and said "I will come back when you are not as busy. Good luck." He said to Kate, then vanished in a puff of smoke before Kate's eyes.

She jumped and looked at Professor Xavier, eyes wide. "Does that happen often?" she asked.

"Would it pose a problem if I said yes?" Professor Xavier asked.

"What do you mean?" Kate replied.

"Kurt is representative of our student body. We have students that can move things with their minds, control other people's minds, walk through walls, create a wall by thinking about it, control the weather, turn themselves into balls of ice or balls of fire, manipulate the elements and take the life from someone just by touching that person. Classroom management and discipline must be viewed in a completely different light. Are you capable of doing that?"

"I stand by my earlier statement. As long as the students don't use their abilities as a crutch or an excuse, we will get along just fine." Kate said.

**Chapter Four**

"All right. Do you have any other questions to ask?" Professor Xavier said. "I thought I would have one of the other teachers show you around before we all get together and give everyone a chance to meet you."

Kate was surprised to say the least. In her world, meeting the other teachers normally happened _after_ a teacher was hired, not before. Usually all the school was interested in was the fact that prospective teacher was not a child molester, could speak English and was properly certified. Even The Crestwell School hadn't required much more than a common background check. Meeting the other faculty was thrown in as an after thought.

"I know that this interview is probably more in depth than you are used to but we want to make sure that you're comfortable with us and that we're comfortable with you." Professor Xavier continued.

Kate nodded and asked "After the interview is done, when will I know if I've gotten the job?"

"Within twenty-four hours." Professor Xavier said.

"Wonderful. I can't wait to see the rest of this gorgeous mansion."

*****************

The rest of the morning and a large part of the afternoon passed by in a blur for Kate but some parts of her interview stood out in her mind more than others. The scrutiny she was under was one such example. When Professor Xavier said he wanted the other teachers to be comfortable with her and her with them, he wasn't kidding. As for herself, Kate was glad for the scrutiny, it allowed her to be just as inquisitive as the other teachers were. As desperate as she was for a job, she was not about to work in a place that gave her the creeps.

Happily, that was not the case for either Kate or the teachers she met. The first one being the strikingly beautiful dark-skinned woman Kate had seen in the hallway on the way to Professor Xavier's office. They met in the hallway outside his office.

"Welcome." The woman said with just a trace of an accent "I'm Ororo Munroe but everyone here calls me Storm. I teach Social Studies."

Kate shook hands with Storm and, instantly liked her. She was intrigued by Ororo's nickname but wasn't brave enough to ask where it had come from.

"I can control the weather." Storm said, answering the unasked question.

"Cool. Can you get to stop snowing in time for me to get home?" The moment the words left Kate's mouth, she wanted them back. Gordon would kill her if she mucked this interview up!

"I am so sorry. That was incredibly rude of me. I was raised properly, really, I was. I just have this tendency to stuff my foot in my mouth when I'm nervous." Kate said, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her.

Storm regarded Kate with an unfathomable look before saying "At least you have the wherewithal to acknowledge what you said was wrong. A lot of non-mutants wouldn't. Shall we?"

Kate nodded and followed Storm down the hallway away from Professor Xavier's office.

"Yes, I could stop the snow." Storm said, looking at Kate. "But why? Being a mutant is a gift and our powers should be used, not abused. That is something we drill into the children." She stopped at a door leading to a solarium. "We'll start with my classroom."

After her initial blunder, Kate's day went much smoother. She saw the rest of the grounds and met the two other teachers at the school, Dr. Jean Grey and Scott Summers. She also saw Kurt again. He waved in her direction before shooing a few stragglers into a library turned classroom but the hairy guy from that morning was nowhere to be seen.

Kate was about to ask who and where he was when Storm said "I see you've met Kurt."

Kate frowned for a moment before replying "Oh, yes. He came into Professor Xavier's office while we were talking. He's a pleasant soul. What do the students think of him?"

"They're not quite sure what to think. Kurt is unique even among mutants." Storm replied.

They stopped in the teacher's lounge for a break and Kate was never so happy as to sit down as she was at that moment. Storm saw the relief on Kate's face and smiled.

"Am I wearing you out?" she asked.

Kate shook her head and said "I'm using to walking around a lot. This place is just a lot to take in all at once, kinda like Time's Square when you first see it."

Storm laughed and said "I'll take that as a compliment. Any questions so far?"

"How many teachers does this school have?" Kate asked.

Storm thought for a moment, then said " Five, sometimes six."

_No wonder Professor Xavier is looking for more teachers_. Kate thought.

"Anything else?" Storm asked.

"Is there really a great, big, hairy guy that works here or was I seeing things this morning?" Kate asked, feeling incredibly foolish.

"Yes,there is. That would be Logan. He is why I said, 'Sometimes six.' Sometimes he's here, sometimes not. He does... a lot of different things. The children adore him." A smile touched Storm's features.

Kate noticed that no specific teaching field was mentioned but decided it wasn't any of her business to ask.

"We're almost done. There is tea waiting for us in Professor Xavier's office when we finish."

"Excellent. Let's go."

*************

True to her word, the last stop on Kate's whirlwind interview/tour was Professor Xavier's office where a real and true English tea was being set up. Kate's Anglophile mother would have been in heaven. Kate tried to remember the details so she could tell her. She took a plate of food and a cup of tea and sat down on a small couch near Professor Xavier's desk . As interviews went, this one had definitely been the most unusual and she would definitely have many, many stories to tell.

Dr. Grey, Jean, as she had told Kate to call her, sat down next to Kate on the couch. A gorgeous red head, she had the brains to match her looks, teaching the sciences at the school along with being a fully licensed, practicing M.D. On top of all that, she was married to the math/ auto shop teacher, Scott Summers, who was no slouch in the looks department himself. He joined Jean on the couch and offered a quick smile to Kate.

A pang of envy stabbed at Kate as she watched Jean and Scott. The love the two shared was blindingly obvious to anyone who watched and Kate could only hope she would be that lucky in the love department someday.

Storm and Professor Xavier came over to join the rest of the group and there was a definite switch in the mood of the room. Kate felt a pair of eyes on her and looked over into the ruby red glasses of Scott Summers. Funny, she couldn't see his eyes yet, she felt pinned to her seat by his gaze.

_I wonder how often he makes his students feel like this?_ Kate thought.

"Can I answer any questions for you?" Kate asked Scott.

"Why do you want to work here?" Scott replied.

"I like to teach and there's a teaching job here." Kate said. "Shop Rite likes their groceries to be paid for."

Jean snickered and she was rewarded with another brief smile from Scott.

"How long have you been teaching?" he asked.

"Seven years." Kate said. Scott was obviously the 'leader' of the teachers and the one who viewed her with the most reservations, even if he was polite to her. That was all right, he just hadn't gotten to know her and when he did, he would, hopefully, warm up to her.

"What's your teaching field?"

"English, Reading, U.S. History, Civics, Geography, World History, New York History and Virginia History. I'm certified and certifiable. I've taught high school."

This time, it was Storm who laughed, almost choking on her tea.

"Are you all right?" Kate asked her.

Storm nodded and brushed the tears from her eyes.

"What makes you think you can be a successful teacher here. You're not a mutant." Scott continued on as if nothing had happened.

"And? I've been the oddball before. What you are or where you're from or the color of your skin doesn't matter to me and I let my students know that the first day of school. All I am interested in is the students ability to the work asked of them without excuses."

"How do you intend to keep discipline in the classroom?" Scott asked.

"The same as I have for the past seven years. I lay down the law on the first day and enforce it when necessary. I've found that by starting early, I don't have a whole lot of problems. I can also be quite creative in terms of punishments. I'm not above having the student or students write specific statements 100 or 200 or 300 times. Sentence writing is fairly effective. The hand cramps once and the brain thinks twice."

"Nice to see that the old methods are still being used." Professor Xavier said.

"So, you expect us to trust you." Scott asked.

"Yes, you can trust me in the same way I can trust you not to do whatever it is you do if you think I've done something stupid. Let me make myself clear. I would never do anything to hurt these or any other children. I teach because I love children and want them to succeed no matter what."

Much to her surprise, Scott nodded in agreement and fell silent.

Her mouth dry from such a long answer, Kate sipped at her now-cold tea. She noticed, belatedly, how quiet the room had become. Her face flushed and she felt the heat climb into her cheeks.

"Why did you chose teaching?" Jean asked. "Lots of people love being around children but not all of them are cut out to be teachers."

"I had some wonderful teachers. They had a love of learning that was infectious. You wanted to learn in their class. That love of learning is what I try to pass on to my students." Kate said.

"What would you do if one of the students uses their mutation to disrupt class?" Jean asked. Unlike her husband, Kate could see into Jean's blue eyes. She saw a kindness that was rare in most people, mutant or not but there was a hint of wariness too.

"Unless there was structural damage, I would wait for whoever it was to finish and then remind the students that any material not covered due to disruptions would be assigned as homework." Kate replied.

"What about fights in the classroom?" Jean asked.

"It's been my experience that if a teacher is foolish enough to try and break up a fight boys are easier to separate. You don't get between two girls fighting. That said, I hope I don't have any fights but if I did, I would stay out of the way and send for help. 'Help' in my last school was the assistant principal or the security officer. Who would the 'help' be here?"

"We don't have a specific person." Scott said. "Although, it's usually me."

Kate nodded.

A clock on Professor Xavier's desk began tolling out the hour and Kate realized it was already four o'clock. If she wanted to avoid the worst traffic, she would have to leave soon.

Professor Xavier noticed her reaction to the time and said "On that note, we shall end. Does anyone have any other questions for Ms. Renard? I believe that she wants to be on her way before it turns dark."

Again, Kate nodded. It was like he could read her mind.

Hearing no questions, Professor Xavier escorted Kate to the front door and opened it for her by using a handicap touch pad next to the door.

"Thank you for coming, Ms. Renard. We do appreciate it. You will be informed of our decision within the next twenty-four hours." Professor Xavier said.

"Thank you for having me. I would truly like to work here." Kate replied, shaking hands with the professor.

She stepped out into the late afternoon and a brisk wind. She pulled her coat around her tightly and picked her way down the steps to her car. She climbed into the Durango and cranked up the heater as far she could stand it. It must have dropped a good five, maybe ten degrees in the time she'd been inside. She put the Durango in gear and pulled away from the mansion, her head spinning with all she had seen and heard.

_I'm applying for a job in The Twilight Zone_. Kate thought, pulling out onto the main road.

**Chapter Five**

Kate's first surprise of the evening came in the form of almost no traffic on her way home. _I must lead a charmed life_. she thought, pulling into her parking space at the apartment complex. A light snow was falling as she climbed from her car, virtually guaranteeing that Kate, along with everyone else, would be shoveling their walkways by morning. She picked her way to her mailbox, collected her mail and walked back to her townhouse. She paused in the doorway and appreciated the scene before her. She loved the time of twilight during the winter. The sun set earlier, fewer people were out, all was quiet, save for the occasional car driving past. There was a great peace in watching the day roll into night.

There was also a great chill as evidenced by the tingling in Kate's fingers as she unlocked the door to her apartment, the warmth of her apartment heavenly after the cold outside. While she liked to watch the snow fall, she loved being inside, where it was warm, even more.

Bounding down the hallway to greet her was Midge, her six-year old pug. She snuffled and sniffed and inspected Kate as she tried to put away her coat and gloves. When the inspection was complete, Midge went over to the front door and whined.

"All right, all right. You've got to go out, I know, I know. I should've remember before taking off my coat." Kate said to Midge. "It's a good thing that you've got a fur coat. I wish I did." She shrugged back into her outside coat, snapped Midge's leash on and off they went. Two trips up and down the apartment's sidewalks later, Midge was happy and they were headed for home.

"Kate?" A female voice called out to her as she walked up the sidewalk to her townhouse.

Kate turned and saw her friend of fifteen years, Brenda Schnook, coming across the parking lot toward her. Brenda was a few inches taller than Kate, had short blond hair in contrast to Kate's brown pageboy and dressed like the lawyer she was, conservative but fashionable. She worked for the County Attorney's Office of Westchester County and the stories she could tell, even though she wasn't supposed to.

"I've been waiting for you to show up. How did the interview go?" Brenda said.

"Come on inside and we'll talk." Kate said. "Midge is cold and so am I. Have you had dinner yet?"

Brenda shook her head. "I just got in myself about a half an hour ago and you would not believe what happened today."

Inside, the two women shed their coats and Brenda made herself comfortable while Kate fed Midge.

"Should I wait for you to change or just pounce on you now?" Brenda asked, comfortable on the couch.

"Do you want to be fed or put out the door?" Kate replied, heading toward her bedroom to change. She reemerged a few minutes later dressed in sweatpants, slippers and a long-sleeve t-shirt. "I love this time of year, I get to dress like this." she said.

"Lazy bum." Brenda said.

"You got it." Kate replied. "You want some dinner? I can find something to eat here or I can call out."

"What do you think?" Brenda asked Midge, who had curled up at Brenda's feet. Midge's wagging stump of a tail was her only response. "Midge votes for pizza."

"And you call me lazy." Kate replied.

"Hurry up and order, then tell me what happened today." Brenda said.

"You first." Kate replied.

**************

Two hours later, the pizza having been consumed along with a very nice bottle of white wine, and Brenda's day analyzed to within an inch of its life, the conversation turned to Kate and her job interview. Brenda was full of questions, which Kate did her best to answer.

"The longest interview I've ever been through." Kate told her. "I got to see the grounds, the classrooms and some of the students. The interview was very through. You would have thought I was applying for a job in the U.S. Secret Service."

"Aren't you being a little over dramatic?" Brenda asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Kate thought of all she had seen and all she couldn't tell Brenda. Kurt, the blue-skinned German teacher, the exotic looking Storm, children that could move things just by looking at them.

"No. I'm not. Have I told you how FINE the math teacher is? Words fail me."

Brenda's eyebrows went up.

"He's already spoken for, darn" Kate said.

"What about the guy you told you about this job in the first place? Is he spoken for?" Brenda asked.

"Gordon? I don't know. He's nice enough and he's cute but he's a bit...I don't know, stand-offish?" Kate replied.

"He's cute and doesn't know it. That's a rarity. Grab him while you can."

A knock on Kate's front door, prevented her from responding. The two women exchanged puzzled glances but got up to see who was there. Kate peered through the peephole and felt her stomach flip over.

"Who is it?" Brenda asked Kate.

Kate pulled open the front door without answering and said "Gordon? What are you doing out here? It's nine o'clock at night. My neighbors are going to think you're some kind of weirdo stalker."

"They won't if you let me in." Gordon replied.

Brenda peered over her shoulder and caught sight of Gordon looking as if he had stepped off the pages of GQ wearing a camel's hair overcoat, tailored suit and shoes shined to a high sheen. He even had a flower in the button hole of his coat. There was a light dusting of snow on his shoulders.

"That's Gordon?" Brenda said in Kate's ear. Her answer was a nasty look.

"Do I look like a weirdo stalker?" Gordon asked Brenda.

"Uh...." Brenda stammered. "I'm staying out of this. I'll talk to you later, Kate." She slipped past Kate and Gordon and disappeared into the darkness and snow.

Midge ambled over to the front door and sniffed Gordon's shoe.

"Your dog doesn't seem to mind me." Gordon said.

"Midge has never been the best judge of character." Kate said. She stood at the door, the 20˚ temperature forgotten. My if Gordon didn't look absolutely magnificent tonight. Her mouth went dry and the butterflies joined her flip-flop stomach.

"I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to know how the interview went. We could talk over a drink." Gordon said.

Kate chewed the inside of her cheek. She wouldn't mind going out with Gordon. But if she went out and her brain froze up, as it tended to do on dates, he would realize what an idiot she was and that would be a _bad thing_.

Gordon took her silence to mean 'no' and said "Another time, then?" He turned and walked down the sidewalk.

"Gordon!" Kate called after him. "I'd love to go for a drink. Come on in. Let me get changed."

"You sure? I'm not in the habit of forcing myself on women, you know." he said.

"Like you would have to." Kate muttered. "Yes, I'm sure." _What the hell?_ she thought, standing to one side to let Gordon in. _You only live once_.

***************

Being that Croton-on-the-Hudson was a typical small town, the sidewalks rolled up after 8 p.m. and only one restaurant was still opened when Gordon drove into town. He pulled up in front of The Croton Diner, turned off the engine and went around to the passenger side to open the door for Kate.

She beat him to it.

"Sorry, I'm used to opening the door for myself." she said.

He smiled and lead the way to the front door of the diner. He held the door open for her and followed her in.

"Have you ever been in here?" he asked.

"I might have been in here when I first came to the area but not since then." Kate replied.

The hostess came up to them, picked up two menus and asked them to follow her. She seated them towards the back of the dinning room, tucked into a corner and near a roaring fire in the rustic fireplace.

"Your server will be by shortly." the hostess said and left.

Kate took a good look at the dining room and whistled.

"What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a dining room decorated in early Eddie Bauer?" Gordon asked teasingly.

"Not recently." Kate replied.

A companionable silence fell, giving Kate time to assess her situation. From the moment, Gordon had appeared on her doorstep, her stomach had not quit its gymnastics routine. If she didn't know better, she would have thought she was coming down with the flu.

But it wasn't the flu, it was nerves, brought on by a handsome man asking her out for drinks. Lord, she hadn't been this nervous since stepping in front of her first class as a new teacher.

"In the grand tradition of small talk, are you from New York State?" Gordon asked her, only glancing at the menu.

"No, I'm from Washington, D.C. My father has several major contracts with the federal government. What about you? Are you from around here?"

Gordon gave a half-shrug in response. "Kinda sorta. My dad's from the Piedmont area and my mom's from Fire Island. Answer a question for me?"

"If I can."

The waitress appeared at that moment and forestalled any further conversation until their drink order was placed and the waitress left.

"You had a question?" Kate asked.

"Why is it that some people from Washington, D.C. pronounce it 'War-shing-ton D.C.? There's no 'r' in the word."

"Why do people in Boston pronounce words like 'car' as 'cah'? Regional dialects. Kinda like mutants and non-mutants, hmm?"

Gordon looked around the restaurant but it was nearly empty so no one had heard Kate. "Next time you mention mutants, keep your voice down."

Kate blinked, then Gordon's reasoning caught up with her. "Oh, sorry. Can I ask you a question about being a mutant?"

"Depends on the question."

The waitress came back then with their drinks, interrupting the conversation again. She set two mugs of hot chocolate down in front of them and asked if they would like something to eat. At the shake of their heads, she left.

They drank, the hot chocolate just the ticket after the cold, cold outdoors. Kate wrapped her hands around her mug and concentrated on the heat coming from it. Gordon watched Kate drink and wondered what it would be like to have someone like her to come home to. Someone who accepted him for what he was and was genuinely curious about mutants and what they could do.

_Give it a rest, Chambers. If she likes you _that_ much, she'll let you know_. a little voice whispered in his ear. He shook his head and drained the last of the hot chocolate from his mug. He waited for Kate to set her mug down before speaking.

"What did you want to know about mutants?" he asked.

If Kate was startled by his directness, she didn't show it. "Not so much about mutants in general. I'm more interested in when you discovered you were and how you wound up at The Xavier School."

"It's a long, long story. Are you sure you want to listen to the whole thing?"

Kate nodded.

"Charles Xavier had a psychiatric practice before starting The Xavier School and my mother was one of his patients. When my mutation came out, _I_ became one of his patients."

Kate sipped at her hot chocolate, listened and accepted what Gordon said, which was completely out of character for her. Normally a cautious person, she accepted Gordon at his word, although she didn't know why.

"He's a good man, Kate. He won't steer you the wrong way. He believes in what he's doing. He kept me on the straight and narrow." Gordon said.

Kate smiled at the image of a teenage Gordon, then said "Somehow I have a hard time imagining you having to be kept on the straight and narrow. You don't seem to be that kind of person."

"You would be surprised." Gordon said. He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. Instantly, a jolt of electricity shot up Kate's arm and her mouth went dry. She started to take a drink from her mug but it slipped from her fingers and bounced on the table, splattering the remains of the hot chocolate everywhere.

Gordon leaped up and out of the way of the growing puddle, breaking the connection and snapping Kate back to reality. Gordon waved down their waitress and explained. She nodded and went to get a rag to clean up.

"If you didn't want me to touch you, all you had to do was say so." He grinned down at her and Kate wanted to smack him.

"Don't flatter yourself." she returned.

Another grin. "Too late. Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

The waitress returned and mopped up the spilt drink and asked if Kate wanted another hot chocolate. Kate shook her head.

"C'mon. It's time to be heading home. I've got to get up extra early tomorrow." Gordon dropped some money on the table to pay for the drinks, without waiting for the bill and waved Kate toward the door. The drive back to Kate's townhouse was uneventful and silent. Gordon concentrated on the road and Kate concentrated on the memory of Gordon's hand on hers and her reaction to his touch.

Electric was the only way to describe it. All he had done was cover her hand with his and yet, she wanted him to do that again. She snuck a look at Gordon. She couldn't even really see him but her stomach flipped over again and a tingling sensation started at the base of her spine and worked its way up the longer she looked at him.

She looked back at the road but the tingling didn't subside. She wasn't a novice in the romance department but she wasn't 'experienced' either. She had had her share of blind dates, boyfriends and more blind dates. She had seen some of what the world had to offer, manwise but not a single one of those men had ever provoked any feeling in her the way Gordon did with a single touch.

Yikes.

She had long believed that if, and when, she met her future husband, it would be when she was at her absolute worst. Losing her job and sobbing in the arms of a total stranger would certainly qualify.

Gordon pulled his car into the townhouse complexes parking lot, pulled to a stop in front of Kate's townhouse and cut the engine. "You know, I still haven't found out how the interview went."

"It went fine. I liked all the people I met and all the students too. And, then there was a blue skinned guy with a tail who speaks German....Listen, it's cold out here, how about you come in and continue?" she asked.

"As much I would like to, I'll have to take a rain check." He got out of the car and came around to open the door for her. When she got out, he said "Kate, The Xavier School is, and I'm not understating this, a good place to work. No, let me correct that, it's a great place to work but it can get a bit hairy at times. If you need someone to talk to about what you see or hear and don't want to talk to the people there, call me. Anytime, day or night. I want you to be comfortable there and to feel safe. If you don't, you let me know." He took a business card from the inside pocket of his suit coat and handed it to her.

Kate took the card, looked at it for a moment, then looked up at Gordon. In the full light of the parking lot, he resembled an avenging angel crossed with Bill Gates, of all people.

"Thanks. I'll make sure I don't disappoint you. You won't regret recommending me."

"Of that, I am sure." With a smile and a wave, he was on his way home and Kate went inside with a lot to think about.

Chapter Six

The next day, the flashing light on Kate's answering machine greeted her when she came inside after taking out the garbage. She punched the play button as she divested herself of her outer garments. She thought it might be Gordon but it wasn't, it was Charles Xavier.

Kate sat down and started to pray.

"Ms. Renard, this is Charles Xavier at The Xavier School. After discussing your application with the other faculty, I am calling to offer a teaching position to you. Please return my call as soon as possible so that we may discuss a starting date, salary and other considerations. Thank you."

The tape clicked off. It was a good thing that she was sitting down or else she would have been on the floor. Not trusting her ears, she stood and pressed the play button twice more just to be sure she had heard right. She wasn't hearing things! She had a job!

Kate stood up, then sat down again, almost missing the chair. A job. A reason to get up in the morning and in plenty of time for Christmas! Who to call first? After Professor Xavier, of course. Her mother? Brenda? Gordon, who was the reason she knew about the job in the first place? She grinned. Thanks to Gordon, she now had a job! She hopped up, grabbed the phone and dialed Professor Xavier's phone number.

************

Two days passed from the time Kate received Professor Xavier's phone call to the day she started her new job. In that time, Gordon had taken her out to dinner and an art gallery opening, a favorite past time of Kate's, even though he hadn't known that until Kate told him. Her smile made it all the butterflies he had suffered worth it. He genuinely liked Kate and enjoyed the time spent with her. It had been a very long time since he had enjoyed the company of woman who liked and understood the same things he liked. He wasn't to the stage of meeting her parents or her meeting his. They were far from it but maybe,in the far distant future, they would and wouldn't that be interesting?

Kate's parents surprised her as well, by taking her out to dinner the night before her job began. How nice, Kate had originally thought but it wasn't just her company her parents were after. Kate's mother was after answers and she was going to get them. She hadn't even finished her salad when her mother started in.

"Kate, honey, tell me about this young man who told you about the job. What's his name?" Gloria Renard asked her daughter. A tall, willowy woman, she did not look old enough to have a daughter Kate's age. It was something she took great pride in from her carefully styled hair to her fashionable clothes.

Kate bit back the sarcastic comment that leapt to her lips and said, instead "His name is Gordon Chambers. He owns the server that the City of Croton on the Hudson uses for communications, e-mails and their website."

"Interesting." Mrs. Renard murmured. "Where did he go to college?"

Kate finished her salad, set her fork down and looked to father for help. Tall and deceptively young looking, like his wife, Christopher Renard wasn't about to get between wife and daughter. He hadn't built a Fortune 500 company by being stupid. He simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say "You know how your mother can be."

She rolled her eyes. Kate loved her parents dearly but honestly...

She should have known that something was up the moment her mother offered to take her dinner, then added that her father would join them. He never did that. He didn't like getting dressed up to go eat. He had enough of that in his business life.

"Kate?" her mother asked again. "Where did Gordon go to college?"

"Renseller Polytechnic Institute in Troy. He graduated with a degree in computer engineering."

Mrs. Renard nodded. The main entree was served before she could ask any further questions.

"So, tell us about this school you're going to work for." Mr. Renard asked Kate, midway through the main course.

"It's called The Xavier School for the Gifted. It's very small, there are only, maybe 30, 35 students in the whole school." Kate replied, happy to have a question that did not revolve around her social life.

"I looked up The Xavier School on the Web. There's not much out there about it. The founder is said to be a bit of a recluse." her father continued.

"Dad, he teaches two courses in philosophy,one in sociology and one in psychology. He can't be that much of a recluse and still teach. I know, I watched."

"He has ties to the anti-mutant registration group." her father added.

"So? As long as he pays me and lets me be, I don't really care." Kate replied.

"Oh, Kate, we just don't want you get involved with something ugly like mutant registration." Kate's mother said, then added. "We're your parents, we get to worry about you. What is this Charles Xavier like? He's not some revolutionary, is he?"

Kate about choked on her wine. A revolutionary was the farest thing from her mind when she thought of Professor Xavier. She dabbed her eyes and shook her head no.

When she could breathe again, she said "No, Mother, Charles Xavier is not a revolutionary. At least not the way you think."

At her parent's look, Kate clarified "He has a lot of money and has chosen to spend it on educating children. The Xavier School meets all of New York State standards for education, even though, as a private school, it doesn't have to. Professor Xavier can't be all that bad, he drinks tea. I had tea with him and the faculty the day of my interview. You would have been so happy, Mother. It was a real high tea."

Mrs. Renard brightened at the mention of Professor Xavier drinking tea. Anyone who not only drank tea but could also serve high tea was all right in her book.

Mercifully, dinner ended before her parents could go back to interrogating her about Gordon. She kept them off the subject by telling them all about The Xavier School, what it did, how it did it and what the place looked like.

She parted company with parents at the door of the restaurant. They both hugged her and her mother said "Honey, please don't be too offended by our questions. We just want the best for you. If The Xavier School is just that, then, wonderful, I know you'll be successful. You are at any thing you put your mind to." Kate's mother kissed her on the cheek, then walked off with Kate's father.

Kate stood there, watching her parents make their way across the icy parking lot. She understood their concern. Understood it but didn't like it. She wondered idly, as she walked to her car, what her parents would think of Gordon. She knew they would like him. Would their opinion change if they were to learn, later on, that he was a mutant? She liked to think they would accept him with open arms but she wasn't sure that her parents were _that _open minded.

***********

The next morning dawned clear and bright, with a light dusting of snow on the cars in the parking lot, courtesy of a snowstorm the night before. So, after feeding Midge an extra helping of dog food and dressing in her professional best, Kate cleaned her car and managed not to get any snow on herself. A good omen.

Her good luck continued on her drive to the school. There was very little ice on the road and almost no traffic. She reached The Xavier School with plenty of time to spare. She parked as far as she could off the main driveway so as not to block anyone, collected her bag, locked the SUV's doors and walked up the stairs to her new job with just a touch of trepidation.

Storm opened the door when Kate knocked and said "Good morning. No problems getting here?"

Kate shook her head and replied "Ask me that same question in mid-January. Is it all right if I leave my car in the front drive? I didn't know where else to park."

"That's fine. Before you leave today, we'll show you where you can park. Classes haven't started yet. We're all in the dinning room still." Storm said. She lead the way down the hall to the dinning room, chatting the whole way. "The children are quite curious as to who the 'new teacher' is. It's been interesting to watch." She stopped at the door to the dinning room and opened it, allowing Kate to walk in ahead of her.

Kate stepped into the dinning room and stopped dead. The room was large but not overly so. Large mulloined windows at the back of the room added to the spaciousness. A warming table was set up along the left hand side of the room. There were seven tables full of students and adults. As she stepped fully into the room, thirty-five pairs of teenage eyes focused on her and she had the sudden image of a bug under a microscope pop into her head. When Storm had said 'We're in the dinning room.' Kate had assumed, wrongly, that 'they' were the adults, not the children.

_See what happens when you assume?_ a little voice whispered in Kate's ear.

"Good morning, Ms. Renard." Professor Xavier said, from the other side of the room at the head of the adults table. Next to him sat, Jean and next to her sat Scott. Kurt sat on the other side of Professor Xavier and an empty seat, obviously Storm's, was next to him. Kate couldn't keep the image of King Arthur's court from popping into her head.

"Good morning, Professor Xavier, Dr. Grey, Mr. Summers, Herr Wagner." Kate said. Kurt grinned and waved. Jean and Scott nodded a greeting to her.

"Follow me." Storm said, walking toward the adult table. Kate followed and so did the feeling. It was almost like those painting where the eyes seem to follow you no matter where you went, except the eyes following Kate were real.

"May we offer you breakfast?" Professor Xavier said, when she reached the table.

Kate shook her head and said "I ate before coming."

"All right. If you ever do want breakfast, it's served at 7:00 a.m." Professor Xavier said, before turning his attention to the children in front of them. "Children, I would like to introduce Ms. Kate Renard, our new English teacher."

As if on cue, 35 voices said "Good morning, Ms. Renard."

Kate quirked an eyebrow but no else seemed surprised so she remained silent.

"Ms. Renard will be taking English Composition from Mr. Summers." Professor Xavier continued.

A smattering of applause broke out in the dinning room.

"I heard that. Don't think I don't know which ones of you were clapping." Scott said.

Giggles that time.

"Now, children, I know there will be no problems with Ms. Renard. If there are, I will be discussing them with you." Professor Xavier said.

Utter silence was the students response.

"All right, you are dismissed." Professor Xavier said to the children. "Classes start in 15 minutes. Nobody should be late."

There was a scrape of chairs being pushed back and a clatter of dishes and silverware as the children put their dirty dishes in a tray and left the room.

"Now, Kate, have a seat and we'll discuss your schedule. I wouldn't want you to be late for your first class." Professor Xavier said, with a smile.

**********

Kate quickly discovered, after being shown her schedule, how flexible her teaching style truly was. She had three classes a day for an hour and a half each. Two classes were in the morning, then lunch, then the final class in the early afternoon, leaving her the rest of the afternoon to prepare for the next day and be able to get home before dark.

The mixture of students resembled the one-room school house of old. Groups of different grade levels, abilities and ages all together in the same room. The 7th and 8th grade came first, followed by the 9th and 10th grade and ending with the 11th and 12th grade. The only problem inherent in teaching different grades at the same time was everything had to be done twice. Every test, worksheet and board assignment had to be rewritten for each grade. Kate looked at the list of students in her hand and knew she'd be using a lot of chalk. She caught a break in the area of lesson plans in the fact that Scott had already planned out the whole year. She accepted the plans gratefully and thanked God for small favors.

Since she was taking over Scott's classes, he showed her the classroom, a converted library, gave a quick 'behave or else' speech, then left to attend to his other students. Kate found herself standing in the front of the classroom with six boys and four girls looking at her, waiting. She took a deep breath and began.

"Good morning, children. Thank you for welcoming me this morning, that was very nice. Now, you know my name but I don't any of yours." Kate said. She walked to the desk behind her and pulled a sheet of paper from her bag. "Please write down your name on this sheet. If you don't put down the right name, I'm calling you 'hey you'."

Giggles came from the students.

Kate handed the sheet to a boy with dark hair and glasses seated in the front row and continued "Mr. Summers has told me where you are and where you should be by the end of the semester. We're going to jump right in, in just a moment. But, first, any questions about me that you are just dying to ask?"

A hand came up from a girl with blond hair seated in the 3rd seat, 1st row. Kate nodded at her.

"What can you do?" the girl asked.

"I can teach." Kate replied. She'd have to tell them she wasn't a mutant but not just yet.

"What's your mutation?" asked a boy seated behind the girl.

"I actually want to spend my day in a room with teenagers. Pretty frightening if you ask me." Kate replied.

Snickers spread through the room.

"You'll find out sooner or later so, I'll tell you now. I'm not a mutant. I can't DO anything. But if any of you think that means that I can't discipline you for misbehaving, let me disabuse you of that notion right now. I can and I will. Try me and see what happens." Kate said, looking down her nose at the students.

The students had the good grace and intelligence not to challenge her assertion, yet.

"All right, anything else?" Kate asked.

Silence.

"Good. Let's get to work, then. Open your textbooks to page 93 and do the first exercise as a warm-up. Then we'll get into the hard stuff."

And so, the school day began, with the shuffling of textbooks and the rustle of paper. She could only hope the rest of the day was as peaceful.

********

Kate almost got a peaceful first day but not quite. When her final class, the 11th and 12th graders, trooped in, her peaceful day went out. Midway through the class, as the students worked on an outline for an upcoming term paper, her grade book came to life. It lifted off the desk and landed on the floor with a slap, a smattering of giggles following it.

Kate looked up from a stack of 7th grade papers she was grading and said "Kindly return my grade book to my desk."

Her grade book did not move. Instead, her Teacher's Edition of English Composition for the 12th grade, lifted off her desk and landed next to the grade book with a deafening crash. Kate fixed the class, all 12 of them, with a stare.

Ah, the first challenge to her authority. This should be interesting. Her classroom was right next door to Scott's. He had to have heard the noise. He'd be by , she counted '5,4,3,2,1'. On the count of 'one', the classroom door opened and Scott walked in. He took in the grade book and the textbook on the floor and Kate's neutral expression before looking at the students.

"This behavior is unacceptable. Return Ms. Renard's things to her desk, now." He said, his voice never rising an octave. Magically, the grade book and textbook floated back to Kate's desk and Kate had to bite her cheek to keep from smiling.

"This is something I'd expect from the younger kids, not you guys. You're supposed to set a good example for the younger ones, not be poster children for bad behavior. If I have to come back in here again, you will not like the what happens. Got it?"

12 heads nodded in unison.

"If you have any other problems, Ms. Renard, I'm right next door." Scott said.

Kate nodded and Scott returned to his students but left Kate's classroom door open.

She sized up the students before speaking to them. 7 boys and 5 girls including a girl, named Marie, who had a streak of white mixed in with her chestnut brown hair. She seemed to be a leader of sorts and right at that moment, Marie was eyeing a boy sitting in the back, who appeared to be squirming in his seat.

"That was seriously dumb." Kate said to the class in general, the boy in particular. "If you're going to try something on me, you need to make less noise. Professor Xavier probably heard you all the way down in his office. I'd expect to see more originality from the upper grades."

Her grade book started to move again but Kate slapped her hand down on top of it. "Understand one thing, there is only one adult in this room and that's me. I am the teacher, you are the students, you do what I ask you to do. Do not think for a moment that simply because I'm not a mutant, that I don't have my ways because I do and not all of them are pleasant. Look at it this way, you can either deal with me or whoever I find in the hall first, who would you rather deal with?"

Kate lifted her hand and the grade book did not move. However, a box of Kleenex slid from one side of her desk to the other. More giggles.

Kate rolled her eyes. She looked down at the seating chart, then up at the students and called out three names, including the boy who had been squirming earlier.

"Brandon, Justin and Zachary, front and center."

The three boys eyed each other nervously but got to their feet and walked up to Kate's desk.

"All right, gentleman, stand right next to my desk and don't move." she told them. Kate knew she had telekentics in her class but didn't who, so she simply picked names at random and hoped she got the guilty party.

"You three are going to be the scapegoats for whichever wise guy it is in here who keeps moving my stuff. You will stand there and not move until the end of class. That's 45 minutes, by the way." Kate said to the boys before turning her attention to the class. "Now, before I ask these three gentlemen to rat on a friend in front of everyone in return for the privilege of being allowed to sit down, does anyone have anything to say?"

Silence.

Kate shook her head and turned back to the three boys. She looked at each one in turn and said "How about it? You can go sit back down, if you tell me who's goofing around."

The boys said nothing but Kate was not surprised. She turned her attention back to the class and said "This is just the beginning. I will be here every single day until the end of school. You make my life hard, I'll make your life harder. The decision is yours." Kate cast a glance at the three boys. "Brandon, both feet on the floor, no moving of any kind."

Brandon did as he was told.

"Now, moving on. Someone tell me what their term paper topic is." Kate asked.

Marie, seated in the front, raised her hand.

"Yes?" Kate said.

"My topic is fear. Why are people so afraid of what they don't know." Marie said.

"Good. I like that one." Kate replied. "Next? Bobby, what's yours?" she said to the young man seated on Marie's left.

"Respect. Why do some people think that others are not worthy of being treated properly." he said.

"Excellent." Kate replied. "Next?"

Class moved along as the students discussed their topics and Kate was pleased to see that the students were actually thinking and coming up with good, meaty topics to write on. All too soon, for both the students and Kate, the bell rang and class was over. The students gathered up their belongings but didn't leave as quickly as they might have otherwise. They wanted to see what was in store for Brandon, Justin and Zachary.

"School is over, children." Kate said to the students still in the classroom. When no one moved, she added "Go." and they did, reluctantly. She shooed them into the hall, shut the classroom door and turned back to the three boys still standing by her desk.

"Gentlemen, I never expected you to tell on whoever was moving the books around but you can tell him or her that I am _very_ creative in my punishments. Oh, and tell him or her that I will catch them, count on it. You're free to go." Kate said. She watched them collect their bags and books and then watched them leave.

_Mutant or not, they're typical teenagers_. she thought. She turned back to her desk and saw a folded piece of paper that hadn't been there 5 minutes before. Cautiously, she picked it up and unfolded it.

The message written on the paper read: "I know who was acting up in class today. I'll talk to him and get him to stop." The note was unsigned.

_Curiouser and curiouser_. Kate put the note in the drawer of her desk and turned to erase the blackboard. Different crop of kids, same kind of problems. After erasing the blackboard, she turned to the stack of papers to grade and the lesson plans for the rest of the week. Scott had truly blessed her with meticulous lessons and, in only a half hour, Kate was done with both. All that was left to do was to make copies of a stack of worksheets for her 6th and 7th grade students. Time to find the copy machine and see if it was running.

**Chapter Seven**

She needn't have worried, just like everything else at The Xavier School, the copy machine was state of the art and in perfect running condition. She was so surprised, she just stood there in the doorway and stared. Working copy machines, for the teachers, were a rare beast in public education. Even tony schools like The Crestwell School were not immune from temperamental copy machines, their money only bought a speedier response time from the repairman.

Scott noticed Kate's reaction and cocked an eyebrow.

"Tell me you've seen a copy machine before." he said to Kate.

"A copy machine? Sure. A _working_ copy machine? Not too often." Kate replied. She walked into the room and put her copy books down on the small table Scott sat at.

"Where do you get supplies?" Kate asked.

Scott pointed to the cabinets lining the walls around them.

She went over to the closest set of cabinets and started opening doors. Pens, pencils, lined paper, unlined paper, graph paper, colored pencils in a rainbow of shades, notebooks, binders, folders, art pads, markers, crayons and copy paper greeted her with each new door she opened. All new, all just waiting to be used.

Her mouth hung open in shock.

_Oh, my_. Kate felt like a kid in the candy store, the crowning moment coming when she discovered just what kind of copy paper the school used.

"Hammermill Bond. I don't believe it." Kate said, unaware that she had spoken out loud.

"Of course. That's the best kind to use. It's heavy enough so it won't jam in the machine." Scott said, bemused by Kate's reaction to the supplies, especially the copier paper.

"You don't understand." Kate said, running her hands over the paper. "Schools never buy paper this expensive. Not even the very rich private schools."

"Really?" Scott asked.

"Really." Kate replied.

Scott knew from speaking to other teachers in the teacher's union just how well off he was in terms of funding but that fact had never really sank in until he watched Kate drool over the supplies.

"If you think the paper's something, ask to go on a field trip." Scott said.

"Do tell." Kate said, coming back to the table.

"No permission slips needed, we have three people certified to drive a bus, myself included, we have a doctor and best of all, we have Professor Xavier." Scott said.

For the second time in ten minutes, Kate was all but drooling over the paths opened to her by Professor Xavier's money when the machine beeped and interrupted Scott. He stood and retrieved his copies.

"Anything you want or need. Just ask." he said. He collected his other stack of papers along with his copies and left.

Kate didn't know what to do first. Make copies or do cartwheels out of sheer joy. Making copies won out only because she would have felt incredibly silly if someone had walked in on her. Little by little it was sinking in that working at The Xavier School would be a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity. Here, at this school, she could make a real difference without all the political and economic hurdles a teacher normally had to face. An opportunity she would have never had if she had never met Gordon.

She smiled as she started the copy machine. Yes, she would definitely be placing a call to Gordon this evening. After walking Midge, of course. She stood there in front of the copy machine, with a smile on her face, lost in thought until Storm came in.

"Kate? How was your first day?" Storm asked.

Kate started at Storm's voice and yelped in surprise.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Storm said.

"That's all right." Kate said, turning her head to look at Storm. "My mind was elsewhere."

Storm smiled and asked her question again "How was your first day?"

"Good. No furniture thrown, always a plus." Kate replied.

Storm's smile grew and she chuckled before saying "Be careful what you say, the furniture may start moving after all."

"Too late, my gradebook beat the furniture to it." Kate said, telling Storm the story of the floating gradebook.

"I am so disappointed in their behavior. They know better." Storm said when Kate finished, a frown marring her lovely face.

"Of course they know better, they're just testing me. They're teenagers, this is what they do." Kate replied.

Storm shook her head and said "That does not matter. They are the oldest students here. They should be setting the example, not creating a scene. Their behavior is unacceptable."

The machine beeped and Kate turned back to it to collect her copies. "I agree with you totally. And, apparently, so does one of the students. There was a note on my desk, unsigned of course, stating that 'they' knew who was acting up and 'they' would speak with that person."

"Interesting. I wonder who 'they' is?"

"I have a feeling that, come tomorrow, the problem will correct itself. Once the children realize they can't chase me off, things will settle down, I'm sure." Kate replied. She gathered her copy books and copies together, a grin crossing her face. "Of course, it doesn't hurt that all the other teachers can do what they can. Feel free to pop in, any time."

"I shall." Storm murmured, more to herself than Kate.

"Thanks for asking. I am very happy to be here." Kate said, looking down at her watch. "Oy, my dog is probably chewing on my drapes in protest of me not being there to worship her. I need to go. See you tomorrow." She waved at Storm and walked out of the room.

Storm watched Kate leave before beginning her own round of copies. With non-mutants like Kate Renard in the world, maybe humanity wasn't doomed after all.

***********

The mystery of the floating grade book was not resolved by the next day but there was not a repeat performance, either. When the 11th/12th grade class came in, Kate hardly recognized them. Gone was the laughing and joking of the day before. The children came in, sat down and were absolutely quiet. Kate was duly impressed. Who ever had gotten to the children had done a bang-up job. She looked at her students and tried not to smile. They would learn.

Before she began class that day, she received the first of two visits from Scott. He knocked on the door frame and waited.

"Yes, Mr. Summers?" she said, looking over at the door.

"You should have no problems this period. If you do, kindly send them next door." he said.

"Certainly." Kate said, feeling genuinely sorry for her students, if only for an instant.

Scott nodded and left.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Kate said to the students. "Perhaps next time, you'll listen to me."

Class moved along fairly quickly after that, even with visits from Storm and Logan and a second visit from Scott half-way through class with a new student in tow. She had been warned about the suddenness of children appearing in class and here one was. The student's name was Danny and he looked mad as hell. While Kate found a seat and a book for Danny, Scott spoke to the class.

"Everyone, we have a new student joining us. This is Danny Murphy. He's telekinetic. We picked him up in Detroit last night, so, he's had a long night. Be nice."

Scott waited for Danny to be seated, then left. The other students looked at Danny with a mixture of curiosity and compassion, the majority of them being 'retrievals' like him. A _retrieval_ Kate was told before school that morning, was a mutant found or 'retrieved' and brought to the school. But unlike public schools she had worked at, the child was introduced to the class as a whole, not just dumped and left. A much better system to her way of thinking. Still, there was always a potential for trouble but as she looked Danny over, she prayed he wouldn't do any major damage before class finished.

Ten minutes before the end of class, Kate brought the all the work to a halt. She raised her hands and waited for silence before saying "Starting today, every Tuesday at the end of class, we'll have an 'Ask the Teacher' segment. You can ask me whatever you want but I reserve the right not to answer. So, who's got a question?"

Hands shot into the air and Kate took her time selecting just the right student.

"Yes, Jon. Your question?" Kate asked, a slim boy with dark hair and dark eyes.

"Why are you here?" Jon asked, the tone in his voice challenging her.

"This is a teaching job. I'm a teacher. Seemed like a good fit to me. Also, I like to eat and I have bills to pay. Visa and Mastercard like getting their money on time." Kate replied, honestly.

"You could work anywhere." Jon said, before Kate could pick someone else. "Why here?"

"I like being around kids and it's never mattered to me where they're from or what they can do."

"Aren't you afraid?" Jon said, pressing Kate for an answer she apparently hadn't given yet.

"Jon! C'mon man, let someone else ask a question." Bobby said, from his seat at the front of the room. Jon glowered at him in reply.

"All right, Bobby. No need to be rude." Kate said, gently reprimanding him. "Am I afraid?" she said, repeating Jon's question. "Of what? Mutant teenagers? Mutant teenagers with haywire hormones? Not really. Of being physically hurt? No more so then when I first started teaching. That's not to say that I'm fearless because I'm not. I am afraid of not getting through to you or boring you or, God Forbid, offending one of you without meaning to. So, yes, I guess I am afraid, of some things. Next?"

More hands in the air. This time, Kate picked a young Oriental girl seated on the far side of the classroom.

"Do you have any mutant friends?"

Kate smiled and thought of Gordon before answering 'yes'. For the rest of the class period, Kate answered a myriad of questions, ranging from "Are you married?" to "How old are you?" to "What do you think about mutants?"

She answered each one as truthfully as she could. "Yes, to my work."; "Old enough to know the difference but young enough not to care." ; "As long as mutants don't break any laws, I don't have any problems with them."

All too soon, the bell rang and, a first for Kate, the students groaned in unison for they had enjoyed the brief peak into their teacher's life.

"There's always next week." Kate said, herding them out the door. She watched them disperse down the hallway, then turned and came back into her classroom, her wonderfully quiet and empty classroom.

Except the classroom wasn't completely empty. Danny was still seated where Kate had told him to when he'd appeared at the door of her classroom. He didn't seem inclined to move either.

"Danny? School's out. You can go now." Kate said to him.

He glared at her in return and it occurred to Kate that being alone in a classroom with an angry telekinetic was probably not a good idea.

"Danny? I've got to go but I don't think you should stay by yourself. Why don't you come with me and we'll find a nice place for you to hole up in?" Kate asked.

Danny's response was to toss his notebook at Kate without touching it. She stepped out of the way, grabbed her purse off her desk and headed for the door, hoping that Danny wouldn't slam the door and trap her in the classroom.

"You don't have to tell me twice. I can take a hint." Kate said, stepping out into the hallway.

Danny must have found her statement funny for he laughed, then slammed the classroom door behind her. She looked at the door and tried not to think of the mess Danny was now creating in her classroom, especially the stacks of ungraded papers. All she could do now was find someone to calm Danny down.

After running through the short list of teachers at the school, Kate headed for Jean's room. While Scott's room was closer, he wasn't there, besides Jean was a doctor. God forbid Danny hurt himself, Jean could put him back together.

"Jean?" Kate asked, knocking on the door frame of Jean's classroom. "I've got a problem with one of my students."

"Physical or mutant?" Jean replied, standing and picking up her doctor's bag off the floor.

"Mutant." Kate replied.

"You can tell me on the way." Jean said.

Kate laid out the whole story to Jean, finishing with "I hope I didn't do anything to set him off. I wasn't trying to."

Jean shook her head and said "A lot of the kids are angry when they get here and they're looking for an outlet. Hopefully, once Danny calms down, he'll see we're not the enemy."

The sound of cracking wood and furniture being dropped could be heard all the way down the hallway and had brought out the entire staff of The Xavier School. Scott was trying the doorknob when Kate and Jean walked up.

"Don't open the door. That's all that's keeping him from tossing the furniture into the hall." Jean said to Scott.

He looked at her for a moment then looked at Kate and said "I'm glad to see you're out here and not in there."

"You're not the only one." Kate replied.

"What happened?" Professor Xavier asked her.

Again, Kate related the events leading up to her departure from the classroom.

Professor Xavier nodded but said nothing.

Scott turned to Kate and said "You might want to leave this could be...unpleasant to watch."

Kate's eyes popped open and she said "What do you mean 'unpleasant'? What are you thinking of doing?"

"Getting your classroom back." Scott said, evenly. "You would be safer if you left."

Once again, Kate felt like an outcast. If she was a mutant, this would not have happened. but she nodded and said "I'd like to see the classroom when you're finished, I've got some papers to grade. If it's all right with you, I'll just wait in the teacher's lounge."

Scott nodded and Kate walked away from the group.

But she did not go to the teacher's lounge, she went only as far as around the corner from her room, her curiosity nagging at her. Something more than just calming an upset child was going on and she wanted to know what. She peered around the corner and her mouth hung open in surprise. The door to her room was open and she caught sight of Scott somersaulting into the room, commando style. Jean and Storm were nowhere to be seen while Kurt and the Professor remained in the hall. Several long minutes passed but eventually, Jean emerged with Danny in tow. Scott and Storm followed them. No one looked happy.

"Now, Danny, when you see Ms. Renard, you will apologize." Kate heard Jean say to the boy.

Danny nodded, his eyes never leaving the floor.

"Now go back in there and clean up the mess you made." Jean told him.

Defeated, Danny walked back into the classroom.

"With your hands." Jean called after him.

No reply.

Professor Xavier looked at Jean with a half-smile on his face, then said "Send Danny down to me when he is finished."

Jean nodded. She looked at Scott and asked "Could you go and get Kate?"

At the sound of her name, Kate beat a path to the teacher's lounge but not before hearing Scott's reply.

"Sure but what make's you think she actually went?"

Kate was waiting for Scott in the teacher's lounge and followed him back to her classroom. Danny stopped long enough to apologize before returning to his cleanup job. For the second time in as many minutes, Kate's mouth hung open. Her classroom looked a tornado had hit it. Nothing was where it should be, broken furniture, including her desk, was strewn across the classroom and her carefully stacked papers littered floor like so much confetti.

"Maybe it would be better if you just went home and came back tomorrow." Storm said, seeing the look on Kate's face.

Kate looked at her and simply nodded. She left the room shaking her head.

Storm waited until Danny was finished and on his way to Professor Xavier's office with Kurt as his escort, before asking Jean "Do you think he can control the elements as well?""I think it's a distinct possibility, one that needs to be tested." Jean replied. The two women left the classroom, Jean turning off the lights and shutting the door telekinetically.

"How do you think Kate handle this? Have we scared her off?" Storm asked.

Jean shook her head and said "I don't think so. She was quite calm when she came to my classroom. The way I'm looking at is, if someone like Danny doesn't scare her off, nothing will."

***********

"Gordon Chambers." Gordon answered the phone while trying to turn off the computer, put on his coat and leave the office. This was his one day of the week when he could leave work early and not feel guilty.

"Gordon? It's Kate Renard. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Kate asked. She unsnapped Midge's leash and let her run down the hallway toward the kitchen.

"No, not at all. I was just leaving work. What can I do for you?" He went out the back door of the office building and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I feel quite silly calling and bothering you but I just had to talk to someone outside of the school who knows about the school." She shrugged off her coat and hung it up. She had waited until the end of Midge's walk to call and was now wondering why she bothered. She was going to sound like a complete twit.

"Kate, I told you to call me anytime you need to talk and I meant it. Listen, if you don't mind, we could have dinner together and you can tell me every little detail. How about that? I can be by your place in half-an-hour." He reached his car, opened the door and dropped his briefcase onto the passenger seat before climbing in and shutting the door.

Kate eyed Midge, staring at her food bowl and her stomach growled.

"What did you have mind? Early Eddie Bauer again?"

"O, ye of little faith. What do you say?"

"Sure, why not? I'll be waiting."

"Excellent." Gordon hung up and started the engine. If leaving the office early meant sharing the company of a beautiful woman like Kate, he'd have to leave the office early more often.

Kate hung up her phone, filled Midge's food dish and sat down to wait. What on Earth was she thinking? Going out to dinner with a man she hardly knew. What would her mother say?

'Make sure he picks up the check.' That's what her mother would say.

Kate shook her head. Did she have time for a relationship right now?

Midge came over to her and whined.

"I don't think so, pooch. You're going to be as broad as you are long if you keep eating like there's no tomorrow. You've had dinner."

Midge sat down and looked at her.

"Hey, it's not my fault you can't talk. I tell you all my problems anyway. Right now, I want another human being to talk to and it can't be Brenda." She bent down and picked up Midge. "Lord, what have I gotten myself into?" she asked the dog.

Midge responded by licking her face.

"All right. I'll keep the encouragement in mind."

There was a knock on her front door then, so, she put Midge down, collected her coat and went to greet Gordon. It would be nice to have dinner with someone other than her parents or Brenda. It had been a very long time since that had happened.

*********

On the way to the restaurant, Gordon listened to Kate's tale of flying grade books and floating furniture with some concern. When he suggested that Kate apply for the job, it never occurred to him that she might be in actual physical danger. Oh, sure, some of the kids at the school had control problems with their powers but they also never tried to hit the teacher with a notebook either. Of course, the other teachers had better protection than Kate but her non-mutantcy shouldn't have been that big of an issue.

"Part of me feels bad for Danny. His entire world, such as it was, was completely upended without any warning and he lashed out. But another part of me is saying 'What are you doing here? You're going to get yourself hurt or killed! What are you trying to prove?'" Kate said, fiddling with the table setting in front of her.

"You have nothing to prove to me or anyone else, yourself included. If you feel you're in physical danger, you are completely within your rights to quit. Professor Xavier would understand completely. So would the other teachers." Gordon told her. He wanted to reach across and take her hand in his but considering her reaction the last time he tried, he decided not to press his luck and kept his hands to himself.

"That's just it. I know everyone would understand but what about my students? Hmm? What kind of example would I be setting? Throw a couple of books at the non-mutant and she runs away? What happens when they're out in the _real_ world and they try the same thing? At best, they would be arrested for assault I think."

Gordon did not reply. She had a point, so what could he add? That the survival of non-mutants hinged on people of like minds such as Kate? Oh, yes, that would be good dinner conversation. It would be better if he just kept his mouth shut and listened. Later, if he had any real concerns, he'd call the school and talk with Professor Xavier. He would know what to do, he always did.

"I'm not going to quit. The thought never even crossed my mind. I just needed someone to talk to. Someone who has a clue as to what it's like to be able to move things with their mind."

Gordon smiled, pulled into the restaurant's parking lot and said "Any time. That's why I gave you my card. Now, are you ready to eat? I don't know about you, but I'm starved."

*********

The next day, Kate's classroom looked as if nothing had happened. A new teacher's desk and new student desks were in place. The posters and maps she had hung were back were she had put them. Any scuffs or dents in the floor were gone and, best of all, all of the her student's work from all of her classes were graded and stacked neatly on her desk.

It was becoming habit for Kate's mouth to hang open whenever something incredible happened to her at work. She simply stared around the room in amazement. She had already made up in her mind alternative lesson plans that would fit where ever she would be teaching that day. It never occurred to her that her classroom would be serviceable less than 24 hours after the incident. It should have.

"Not that I'm complaining, but who graded my papers?" Kate asked Scott before the start of classes.

"We did. Jean, Storm, Kurt, the Professor and myself. We split them up and it didn't take us long." At Kate's look of surprise, he added "It's not the first time we've done that. Besides, it was the least we could do after Danny's tantrum."

"Tell me, is there a storeroom, here in the mansion, with replacement furniture so every time a student looses control, the broken furniture can be replaced immediately?" Her question was only half serious.

Scott chuckled and said "No, there isn't. But in a place this big with this many kids...We have our ways."

"I'm sure you do." Kate murmured. "Thank you, anyway."

"One thing? Danny is being moved from the 11th grade to the 10th grade. So, you'll get to see him before lunch now."

"Really?"

"Physically, he's an 11th Grader. Mentally, he's a 9th, maybe a 10th Grader. He should've been in the 10th Grade to start with."

She nodded, half-anticipating, half-dreading seeing Danny again. He had apologized to her but what if he was still mad? What if his anger was now directed at her because she had gotten him in trouble? What would he throw at her this time?

She needn't have worried. When Danny came to class, he apologized to her again, then took his seat and was as quiet as a church mouse. When class was over, he let the rest of the class leave before he headed for the door.

"Danny?" Kate asked.

"Yes, Ms. Renard?" He stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her.

"I may not know what it's like to be a mutant or what your life has been like up to this point but I do know what it's like to be the new kid. And I do remember the anger I felt when I was stuck in a situation I couldn't control. If you ever want someone who will just shut up and listen, I'm here. As long as you promise not to throw anything at me."

She almost got a smile from him.

"Sure, whatever." he said, leaving the classroom.

Scott saw Danny go past and poked his head into Kate's classroom.

She simply nodded.

**Chapter Eight**

The Fall Semester of The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters ended on December 22, three days before Christmas. Chaos ensued on that day, at least as far as Professor Xavier allowed it to, for the final day of classes involved no classes whatsoever. Half of the students went back to their respective homes and the other half stayed at the school. Kate felt sad for the ones left at the school but, as it was pointed out to her by one of the other adults, the school *was* their home. They had nowhere else to go, but Kate would have been lying to herself if she had ignored the wistful looks some of the students directed to the other students heading home.

Kate told Storm as much as they stood near the front door of the school and watched the passing parade of students, parents, teachers and other assorted adults up and down the newly de-iced front steps courtesy of Storm.

Storm smiled and said "Don't look at it that way, the students don't. They're accepted here. They have nothing to fear here. No one's coming to 'get' them, so to speak. For a lot of these kids, this is the only place that's ever *been* home. Besides, you've never seen Christmas at The Xavier School. Professor Xavier is very much into Christmas, if you hadn't guessed already." Storm waved a hand at the myriad of decorations swaddling the main hall. "Are you coming to the Christmas Party tonight?"

Kate nodded and said "It's been a long time since I've been to formal Christmas Party. I actually had to go out and buy a new party dress. Who else is coming?"

"It's going to be the staff, some invitees, like yourself and the alumni, at least the ones who can make it." Storm said, casting an eye to rapidly graying sky above them. "The weather shouldn't be a problem."

Kate had to swallow a chuckle on that one, the parents of one of her best students walked past looking for their child and Kate didn't know if they knew the truth behind The Xavier School.

She looked around, making sure no one would overhear, then asked "How many alumni are there?"

"There aren't too many of us." Storm replied.

A snowball came flying through the air at the two women before disintegrating into a puddle of water at their feet. Storm quickly locating the perpetrator, Danny. She motioned for him to come over to where she was.

He did but he didn't look happy about it. _Of course._ Kate thought, looking at him. _He looks a lot more happy than he did a month ago._

"Danny," Storm said to the boy, in a low tone, "don't use your powers around the parents, all right? If you're going to throw snowballs, use your hands. And no snowballs at the mansion."

Danny nodded and ran back to his carefully made stack of snowballs.

Storm shook her head and said "Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't."

"He did." Kate replied. "For the moment, anyway." They both watched as Danny carefully scooped up another snowball and tossed it at the nearest moving target, a senior boy, who promptly returned the favor.

Kate looked down at the now frozen puddle of water at her feet and stepped on it to break it up. "No sense in having anyone slip." she said.

"Gordon Chambers will be here. At least, he said he would." Storm said, her comment catching Kate totally off guard.

"Really?" Kate replied.

Storm nodded and said "He enjoys the Christmas Party and this year, he might even talk to some of the people at it." She looked at Kate. "People like you."

Kate caught under the, not unkind, gaze of Storm did her best not to blush. She didn't succeed.

Storm grinned in response and made Kate blush even more,

"I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's just that Gordon is not a, what's the word, a party animal."

"Really?"

"In years past, he's left well before 10 and the party doesn't start until 8. With you there, he might actually stay a little later."

"What makes you think I could make him stay?"

"I've seen the look on his face whenever he sees you. That look speaks volumes." Storm replied. Her words stayed with Kate the rest of the day and well into the night.

************

'Schedule for the day: Let the dog in, let the dog out, let the dog in, let the dog out.' The snarky comment Kate had seen on a t-shirt once popped into her head as she walked Midge down the sidewalk. Midge had looked ready to explode when Kate had come in that evening but now that she was outside, she didn't do anything, except sniff at every bush and plant she saw.

"C'mon, pooch. Hurry up. I've got other things to do besides walking your furry tuckus around." Kate said to Midge, only slightly annoyed. She had left herself plenty of time to get dressed and drive back to The Xavier School but only if Midge would hurry up.

Midge responded by 'doing her business' on a nearby tree.

"About time." Kate said. She picked up Midge and headed back to her townhouse.

She did not see the older man lurking near her SUV nor did she see the interest he showed in her SUV. He watched Kate disappear into her townhouse before quickly walking away to his car.

***********

Kate didn't recognize the woman who stared back at her from the mirror. It couldn't be her, she had never looked _that_ good in her entire life. The woman in the mirror was too shapely and too beautiful to be her but there she was. All those months of getting up early and walking an extra 15 minutes with Midge and all those times when she'd restrained herself and hadn't eaten that second piece of pie were finally starting to pay off. A project she had started before coming to work at The Xavier School was finally completed and she couldn't have been happier with the results.

The rich, dark burgundy velvet complemented her color quite nicely and showed all the right curves in the all the right places, stopping just above her ankles. A bolero-style jacket in the same burgundy velvet completed the outfit and would keep her arms warm during the party. A gold necklace and amber earrings set topped off her ensemble by showing off her deep blue eyes and accentuate her neckline. She was dressed to kill and wanted the whole world to know it.

"I'll tell you, it's been a very long time since I've had a reason to dress up." she said to Midge, who was sprawled in the front hallway.

Midge did not respond. She was asleep.

"Oh, thanks, that's a big help." Kate said to the dog, bending down to scratch Midge's head. "I'll be home late, so don't party too much."

Midge's only response was a low snore.

Kate shook her head, put on her coat, picked up her purse and left.

**********

_Why me, Lord?_ Gordon thought. He stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, fiddling with his cuff links and trying to think of a decent excuse for not attending the annual Christmas party at The Xavier School. Unfortunately, the adults and some of the students knew him too well and would see right through any excuse he might come up with. He fiddled with his bow-tie next. Truth be told, it wasn't the party that scared him, he went every year. It was the people _at_ the party that scared him. Or rather, one person that scared him

Kate.

She would be there, he knew. She would look absolutely stunning, his mouth went dry at the very thought. And what would he do? He hadn't the faintest idea. Hopefully, he wouldn't stuff his foot in his mouth like he had on countless other occasions.

Gordon looked out his bedroom window at the steady stream of snowflakes drifting down past the window. Maybe he could use the weather as an excuse not to come but he quickly discarded that idea with a snort. Oh, yeah, sure. Mr. Gordon Chambers with the 4 wheel drive Range Rover couldn't come because of the snow. Storm would never let him hear the end of it if tried to use the weather as an excuse.

No, he would just have to suck it up, go to the party and humiliate himself in front of the women he really liked.

Out in the front hallway, his maid stopped him and checked to make sure he was presentable. She took his coat from the closet and handed it to him with the warning "Be careful, Mr. Chambers. The weatherman says we're supposed to get another 3 inches of snow tonight."

"Thank you, Adele, I will be. You be careful, too." Gordon replied.

She nodded and brushed some specks of lint from his coat.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Very nice. Whoever she is, she must be special. I've never seen you this tied up in knots before." Adele replied, leaving Gordon to stare after her when she walked out of the room.

*********

Kate knew that Professor Xavier enjoyed decorating for the Christmas Season, she had been walking past the decorations for weeks now but it wasn't until she came around the last bend and started up the road to the mansion that that knowledge took a giant leap forward. With all of its lights on and Christmas decorations on full display, the mansion simply glowed. A gentle dusting of snowflakes only added to the beauty, making the mansion look like a snowglobe.

After parking and picking up her coat, she stepped from her. She paused for a moment, despite the freezing temperature, to stop and admire. She also cast a wary look at the sky and the continual swirl of snowflakes. As pretty as snow was to look at, it was a royal pain to drive in and she hoped that the snow would be done by the time the party was over. Inside, Kate handed her coat over to a young man running a coat check, then headed in the direction he pointed. The solarium seemed an odd room choice for the Christmas party but the moment she walked through the open door, she knew why it had be chosen. It was as if she had stepped into another world.

Tasteful greenery swags with tiny lights twinkling from them encircled the room and giant Christmas tree decorated to an inch of its life sat in the far corner of the room. Tables set for dinner were scattered about the room and each table held a miniature Christmas tree and a light dusting of what looked like confectioner's sugar. The overhead lights had been dimmed so that the decorations could take center stage and above all else, when it stopped snowing, the moon could shine down on the party.

She scanned the room, looking for familiar faces. Storm appeared out of the crowd of students and greeted her.

"Kate, you made it. You look wonderful!" Storm said.

Kate smiled and replied "I can't hold a candle to you. You make me jealous."

Storm's dress, a glittering sheath, set off her figure and her color perfectly with shoes and jewelry to match. She smiled in response, then said in a lowered voice "Just to let you know, this is the first time a lot of the students have ever worn anything more than t-shirts and jeans. So, a lot of them are a more than little nervous. The boys more so than the girls but then girls like to dress up, right?"

Kate nodded.

"Just keep that mind."

"Absolutely. I don't envy you having to get all of them dressed this evening."

"Jean and I had the easy job. We didn't have to convince teenage boys that, yes, they did want to look nice."

Kate chuckled and said "Well, Scott and the Professor seemed to have succeeded. I don't see a pair of jeans in the crowd." Her eyes roamed over the growing crowd of teachers, alumni, benefactors and children looking for one person in particular. A person who had not yet made his presence known.

"Gordon doesn't normally show up until half-way through the party. You've got about an hour." Storm said in Kate's ear, reading her thoughts perfectly. Kate flushed at being caught so neatly and hoped the dimmed lights covered her embarrassment. Storm grinned but did not say anything further.

The majority of Kate's male students were dressed in coats and ties and did not look happy about it. One or two older boys bravely wore tuxedos and looked absolutely smashing.

"Good evening, Ms. Renard. You look very nice tonight." a young voice said at Kate's elbow. She turned and saw Bobby Drake in a tux. He smiled at her reaction.

"Bobby! I almost didn't recognize you. You look so grown-up and handsome. Has Marie seen you yet?" Kate asked.

Bobby nodded and said "She's seen me. She's over there with some other girls. She looks really pretty."

"Don't let me get in your way then. I know you want to do something more than standing here talking to your English teacher." Kate said, with another smile.

Bobby was only too happy to oblige and melted back into the crowd.

The hour flew past in a blur of conversations and drinks and laughter and before Kate knew it, her eyes were once again on the doorway leading from the hall into the solarium. And try as she might to keep up her end of the conversation with Jean, resplendent in forest green, she simply couldn't. Jean finally had to tap her on the arm to get Kate's attention.

"I'm sorry." Kate said. "My mind just wandered off on me."

"He's parking his car right now. Traffic was a bear, it's starting to snow harder and he's in a fine mood." Jean replied.

Kate almost gaped at Jean before remembering that not only could Jean move things with her mind, she could also read people's minds. The blush from earlier returned to Kate's cheeks and she mumbled. "Is it that obvious?"

Jean looked across the room at Scott, her husband, looking very dashing in a tuxedo and said "When you've been there,yeah, it's that obvious."

"How well do you know Gordon?" Kate asked.

"About as well as I know some of my doctor friends." Jean replied. At Kate's frown, she added "I do know that he is incredibly shy around people he likes and it takes him a very long time to warm up."

_Terrific._ Kate thought. _I finally find someone I could really get interested in and he's Mr. Bashful._

Simultaneously, Gordon appeared in the doorway and Scott appeared at Jean's elbow.

"Good luck." Jean whispered to Kate before walking away with Scott.

_Thanks, I'll need it._ Kate thought. Especially after seeing Gordon for the first time in a tuxedo, her mind freezing at the sight. What was she supposed to do now? Smile? Wave? Both? She wasn't given much of a chance to do anything for when he finally spied her and smiled, she melted. Her feet were rooted to the floor and all she could see was Gordon looking absolutely irresistible in his tuxedo.

The oddest feeling climbed up Gordon's neck and he could not put a finger on what it was. All he knew was that once he saw Kate looking stunning in her evening gown, his mouth went dry, his hands went numb and his bad mood from the drive over vanished.

Odd that, he saw Kate as friend and nothing more. But if he saw her as nothing more than a friend, then, why did panic invaded his mind for a moment, urging him to turn and run?

_Oh, honestly. Don't be silly._ He scolded himself. _What? Because you haven't been on a date in who knows how long, you've forgotten how beautiful women can be?_

He shook his head and made his way over to her, saying "You look absolutely wonderful tonight." And indeed she did, her burgundy dress accenting all the right places

"And you look very handsome." Kate replied, when her brain started working again.

"Thank you."

They were saved from the pain of small talk by Professor Xavier's announcement of dinner. "If everyone would please find your seat, dinner will be served as quickly as possible."

Gordon and Kate were seated at the same table with Jean and Scott and two supporters of the school and two of Kate's students. Everyone exchanged greetings and the dinner began. After dinner, Professor Xavier had secured the services of a string quartet to provide music for dancing. Jean and Scott were the first on the dance floor with Storm and Kurt following. Surprise number two for Kate coming when she saw how well Kurt could dance. Her heart ached with a longing she didn't know she had as she watched Jean and Scott dance. Idylly, Kate wondered if she could ever have a love like that with someone. Surprise number three was when Gordon stood and offered his hand to Kate. Tonight was a night for surprises, apparently.

"Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" he asked.

Kate's eyes widened and her mouth went dry. Her mind froze.

"I promise not to step on your feet." he added.

Kate swallowed and said "You promise not to laugh at me? I haven't danced in forever."

Gordon's smile widened. "As long you promise not to laugh at me, the last time I danced was at my brother's wedding, six years ago."

Kate took his hand and they walked onto the dance floor. The music changed to a slow waltz and Kate looked into Gordon's eyes for reassurance. She was rewarded with a smile.

She smiled in return and the two went around the room oblivious to everyone else.

Taking a break from the dancing, Jean and Storm watched with great approval as Kate and Gordon moved around the dance floor.

"Mother's Day." Jean said to Storm.

Storm shook her head. "He's not that slow. Easter."

"You think?"

"They could surprise everyone and make it St. Patrick's Day." Storm said.

"I don't know. Gordon has never moved that fast in the time I've known him."

"What's the saying? 'Still waters run deep.'?" Storm asked.

Jean grinned in response. "You are a wicked, wicked woman."

"Thank you."

Their respective dates, Scott and Kurt, confused as to what the women were talking about, stared at them.

"We're just guessing when Gordon is going to ask Kate out on a date." Jean said to both men. "He's perfect for her and she's perfect for him but neither realizes it. Once one of them does..."

"...the possibilities are endless." Storm finished.

***********

At the end of the song, Gordon escorted Kate from the dance floor, looking for a quiet place just big enough for the two of them to talk. Kate, butterflies doing the samba in her stomach, swallowed her fear and followed after Gordon. Away from the music and just out of the solarium, Gordon found his spot, a little niche tucked into the wall, with a couple of chairs.

Kate sat and Gordon sat and silence followed.

"I wanted to thank you for coming. I really enjoy your company." Gordon said, his heart pounding with each word. Oh, boy, if he didn't feel like a teenager on his first date.

"I am glad I came. It's not very often that I get a chance to dress up." Kate replied.

"You look absolutely wonderful." Gordon said.

"Thank you. You look very handsome."

"Thank you."

Silence descended again but this time, there was no dinner announcement to save them. Gordon looked at Kate, Kate looked at Gordon and that was as far as it went until Gordon bridged the space between the two of them and gently kissed her, his lips warm and soft on hers.

Startled, Kate's eyes widened for a moment before she calmed herself and started to enjoy the kiss, but it was far too quick for her, being over almost as soon as it started. Gordon pulled back and studied Kate's face, looking for any sign of reaction.

"I'm sorry." he stammered out. "I...I shouldn't have done that."

"Why not? You're a good kisser." she said, smiling.

He sat there, not knowing what to say next or what to do. It had been a very long time since he had kissed anyone beyond family members. Had he been too forward? Not forward enough? Did Kate want him to kiss her again?

Kate reached over and put her hand on his knee. "It's okay, Gordon. I'm not going to bite."

"But I might..." He muttered to himself. He stood and said "Kate, you're going to hate me I'm sure but...I have to go...I'm sorry if I've offended you in anyway." He turned and all but ran down the hallway back towards the front door.

Kate watched in utter bewilderment. What was going on? Was it something she said? Or didn't say? Should she have kept from putting her hand on his knee? Was it a bad thing that she said she'd enjoyed his kiss?

_Lord._ She looked up at the ceiling. _What did I do wrong THIS time?_


	2. Part 2, Chs 9 through 15

**Chapter Nine**

"Thank you so much for coming, Dr. Ralston. I know how much your appearance tonight meant to Professor Xavier, not to mention myself and the rest of the faculty." Jean said to a portly gentleman who stood in the front hallway of the mansion buttoning up his coat.

"It was my pleasure. I look forward to Charles' Christmas Party every year." Dr. Ralston replied. He eyed the blowing snow outside the front door and wrapped a scarf around his neck. "Now, if he could just do something about the weather. Good night, Jean. Merry Christmas."

"Good night, Dr. Ralston." She held the front door open enough for him to walk out and was about to shut it when she heard him say 'Hmm, looks like I'm not the only one still here.' She peered around the door and saw Kate's SUV. Frowning, she closed the door and leaned against it. Why was the Durango still there? She hadn't seen Kate in over an hour and had assumed, wrongly it appeared, that she had left already and simply hadn't said good-bye.

"You are looking entirely too thoughtful." Storm said to Jean as she came down the hallway towards the other woman.

Jean frowned again. "Kate's SUV is still here and I don't know why."

"Perhaps she went off with Gordon. Is his car still here?" Storm asked.

"No."

Storm grinned and said "They're probably enjoying each others company right now. I'm heading off to bed. The kids are drifting back to their rooms, they should all be in their rooms in the next half-hour." She waved at Jean and continued down the hall.

Jean wanted to share Storm's positive notion but simply couldn't. Try as she might, she just knew that Gordon and Kate were not together, which left a very big question in her mind.

Where was Kate?

***************

The weather was not getting any better and Kate knew it, the longer she remained at the school, the greater the chance she stood of being stranded there. Not that she really cared at the moment. She pushed her rolling chair back and put her feet up on her desk or put her feet up as far as her dress would let her. She stared out the window at the falling snow and wondered why she had even bothered to come.

She had enjoyed seeing her students dressed up and enjoyed the conversations with other adults. She had especially enjoyed dancing with Gordon and the kiss they shared. Then, everything went right in the toilet. After Gordon's abrupt departure, she hadn't felt like going back to the party, so, she went to her classroom instead. That had been an hour ago. The wind howled past the classroom windows and Kate felt like joining it.

_What did I do wrong? What is it with me? More to the point, what is it with Gordon? _

She cast another look out the window, sighed and dropped her feet to the floor. No sense in hanging around the school any longer, there was nothing for her here. Now, what did she do with her coat?

***************

Jean's hunch was right. There were only so many places Kate could hide in, her classroom being at the top of the list. Just as Jean turned the corner on the classroom hallway, she spied Kate coming out of her classroom.

"Kate? Where have you been?" Jean said, walking down the hallway to meet her.

"Was I missed?" Kate asked.

Jean eyed her and said "Yes, you were missed. You're part of this family now, whether you believe it or not."

Kate flushed.

"The party too much for you?"

"Yes. I did enjoy myself but after a while..." Kate looked down at the floor, then up at Jean. "Do you understand men at all? I don't."

Jean laughed and said "You want to talk about it or should I say him?"

Kate shook her head and said "I really need to head for home, my dog will be waiting."

"Uh, well, your dog's going to be waiting a bit a longer. Route 153 was just closed by the State Police due to blizzard conditions."

"What?" Kate sputtered, "how am I....who's going to....what am I....oh, man..."

"We've got plenty of room here and we'll find you something to wear for tomorrow. Is there someone who will take care of your dog?"

"My neighbor. I guess I need to call and tell her." Kate shoulder's slumped.

"Come to my office, I'll get you a phone and then we can talk."

********************

"Would you like something to drink? I've got water, some tea, I might be able to scrounge up a soda." Jean asked, settling Kate on a loveseat and handing her a cordless phone.

"Water would be nice. My throat's really dry."

"Winter will do that to you."

Jean handed Kate a glass of water then stepped away to give Kate some privacy on the phone. A few minutes later, Kate hung up the phone and cleared her throat. Jean turned back to her and said "Everything squared away?"

Kate nodded.

Jean came back and sat down in a leather armchair opposite the loveseat and stretched. "I like to dress up and wear nice things but honestly, whoever invented high heels should be drug out into the street and shot, the same goes for person who invented panty hose."

Kate smiled in sympathy, her own feet aching.

"You are free to take off your shoes, I already have."

Kate did, wiggling her toes as she did. It felt heavenly.

"So, what happened? I saw you two leave and then..."

"I don't know what happened. We were talking, he leans over and kisses me and then he completely panics, mutters something about how sorry he is, gets up and leaves!" Kate set the glass down on the table in front of her with a thunk. "What's he afraid of? Is it me? Does he think I'm going to morph into some creature? Or that...." Kate did not finish her sentence. She flopped back against the loveseat, then sat up again. "Can I ask a personal question?" "Depends on the question." Jean replied.

"Are all men impossible or do I just find the ones that are?"

Jean laughed. When she was done, she said "I don't think so. People think I'm impossible but they haven't met the champion, Scott Summers."

Kate smiled. "When did you know?"

"About?"

"You and Scott."

"When I first laid eyes on him." Jean smiled at the memory.

"And?" Kate prompted.

"And it took a while. Neither of us had been in a relationship worth remembering so...let's just say that life was _real_ interesting for a while."

"What does your family think of Scott?"

Jean said, cooly "My _family_ does not care for Scott."

Kate figured from that one sentence that any further questions about Jean's family would be unwise. She drank her water and was quiet, for a few minutes anyway.

"I think Gordon left because he's afraid of himself not you." Jean said.

"What do you mean?"

"This is going to sound very odd but being a mutant is like being extremely rich, you never know if people are around you because you're you or because you're a mutant."

Kate nodded but said "If he's that afraid, then why did he kiss me?"

Jean shook her head and said "I don't know. If I could figure out the male mind, I'd write a book and make a several fortunes."

"And I could write the companion book on the female mind. I thought I heard you down here." Scott said from the doorway. "You walked Dr. Ralston to the door, then _poof_ you disappear. Have you been taking lessons from Kurt?" He walked into the room and looked down at Jean.

Jean looked up guiltily and smiled at him. "No, I saw Kate's car in the parking lot and went looking for her."

"It's a good thing she found me too." Kate chimed in. "I didn't know that the roads were closed. That's what I get for sneaking off."

Scott eyed his wife first, then Kate and decided that whatever had gone on between the two women was none of his business, at least, not at the moment.

"You're not the only one. There are quite a few people stuck here. Good thing the mansion is so large. Anyone expecting you at home?"

Kate shook her head and said "I've already called."

Scott turned his attention back to Jean. "If I leave you here, do you promise to come to bed within in the hour?"

Jean shoot him a dazzling smile and said "Of course. Would I lie to you?"

"Yes." Scott replied, smiling. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "We'll talk about this later." he whispered into her ear.

"Of course, dear." Jean replied.

Scott smiled in return, said his good-nights to both women and left the room.

"I haven't gotten you in trouble, have I?" Kate asked.

"No more than usual. Anything else you want to bounce off me?"

"What's it like to be able to read minds? I'd love to be able to read Gordon's."

Jean considered Kate's question for a long moment, then, slowly said "It's not as easy

as people like to think. Unless I put up some kind of mental shields, I hear the thoughts from every last person I walk past. It's like being in a room with a thousand people and they're all talking at once and all at you. It's a babble of voices. I'm still learning how to block them out."

Kate nodded, quite happy that she couldn't read minds.

"I wouldn't give up being a telepath but it can be a tremendous burden."

Kate chewed on her lip, unsure if she should ask the next question percolating in her mind. "Can a person tell if you're reading their mind? I'd like to know in case one of my students decides to try something."

"If it's done well, no. If the person is a new telepath, you might lose your train of thought for a moment. There's really no way to tell. Of course, you shouldn't have to worry about having your mind read. It's considered rude to do so without asking permission first."

Kate smiled and said "Is there an etiquette book for mutants?"

Jean laughed and said "No, but that's a good idea. I'll have to keep it in mind. Any other deep burning questions you just have to ask?"

"Not at the moment but give me time."

"All right. Let's go find you a room. Follow me." Jean said, standing up.

"I seem to be saying this a lot but thanks for talking with me." Kate replied, joining her. "It really helps."

**Chapter Ten**

_Midnight at The Xavier School_ Kate thought, glass in hand. _Sounds like the title of a murder-mystery._ She was quite pleased with herself, having found the kitchen all by herself without getting lost. Now, all she had to do was repeat the trick and find her bedroom again. She turned left down one hallway, then right. _Man, oh, man, how do people keep from getting lost in this place? _

She reviewed the mental landmarks she had made and decided that she was going in the right direction. _All this for a glass of water. _

She continued down the hallway, turned right again and breathed a sigh of relief, she was almost there. Two doors from her bedroom, Kurt popped out of nowhere right in front of her and Kate shrieked, throwing the glass in the air. Water spattered everywhere, the glass landing with a thump in the hallway.

"Kurt! Can't you warn people when you're about to appear? You scared the life out of me." Kate hissed at him. She leaned against the wall and put her hand on her heart.

"Guten abend, Kate. My apologies for startling you, I'm on patrol and this is the quickest way to see what's happening on each floor. Are you lost?" He asked her, his blue skin and dark hair camouflaging him in the dark hallway.

Before Kate could answer, a door opened down the hallway and Jean poked her head out. "Kate? Was that you?"

"Yeah. Kurt popped out in front of me."

Jean eyed Kurt who simply grinned.

"Nothing's wrong. Go on back to bed." Kate told her.

Jean did not need to be told twice, she withdrew into her room and shut the door.

"Sorry for screaming. You startled me, that's all." Kate said to Kurt.

Again, Kurt smiled and said "Yours is one of the more...tame reactions. Are you sure you're not lost?"

Kate nodded.

"Then have a pleasant night's sleep." He vanished in a puff of blue smoke.

A line from The Wizard of Oz popped into Kate's head after Kurt left. _My, people come and go so quickly around here._ She shook her head, picked up the glass and went into her room.

The sound of a jet engine close by woke Kate up just before dawn. She sat up, blinked and looked around the bedroom, momentarily confused, then remembered and flopped back down. Whatever she had heard was probably just the mansion settling. She yawned and rolled on her side but just before falling back asleep, it occurred to her that a settling house and jet engine could never sound the same.

************

Three hours later , Kate awoke to the sound of knocking on the bedroom door. Half-awake, she slid out of bed, an involuntary shudder racing up her spine when her feet hit the cool wooden floor, and opened the door, finding Storm on the other side. Kate blinked and it occurred to her that Storm looked about the way she felt, half-asleep.

"Good morning. This is your wake-up call. Breakfast will be served in half-an-hour." Storm said to Kate.

Kate stifled a yawn and said "Good morning. Has it stopped snowing?"

"It's slowed considerably. The police should be opening the roads shortly. Sleep well?"

Kate nodded. "How about you?"

A look passed over Storm's face but then she shook her head. "It was one of those nights."

Kate remembered the early morning jet engine sounds and debated on whether to tell Storm. She decided not to. All she needed was for them to think she'd lost her grip on reality.

"I'll see you in the dinning room." Storm said to Kate and went on to the next room.

Kate withdrew, tried not to goggle at the furnishings, which she hadn't really gotten a good look at last night, took a shower, got dressed and headed for the dinning room. She saw nary a soul in the hallway until she rounded a corner and ran smack into Scott. She put her hand on Scott's chest to keep from falling over and, to her surprise, felt bandages under his shirt. She looked up in time to see him wince and turn white as a sheet.

"Are you all right?" she asked, alarmed. Scott looked ready to keel over in the hallway at any minute.

"I'm fine." he replied.

That was a lie and they both knew it.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine."

"I'm fine." he repeated. "I'll see you in the dinning room." He stepped around Kate and continued down the hall. She turned to watch. Oh, yes, he was fine. Men normally favored their right side when they walked.

Kate shook her head. Whatever the problem was, it was obviously none of her business. Now, which way was the dinning room again? She turned to ask Scott but he was gone.

_Nuts. Breakfast will be over by the time I find it._

In the end, Kate followed her nose and arrived in plenty of time. After filling her plate with an assortment of fruit, pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausages, she made the decision to get up an extra hour early during the school year so she could have breakfast like it every day.

She made her way to the 'adults' table and took a seat. Storm was already there, as was the Professor, Kurt and Jean, along with two benefactors from the night before. Scott arrived shortly after, looking like death warmed over but determined to carry on like nothing was wrong. Kate watched covertly as Jean did her best not to fuss over Scott too much.

_Curiouser and curiouser as Alice in Wonderland would say._ Kate thought, wondering what happened to Scott between the time Scott and Jean had shown her to her bedroom the night before and that morning. Did Scott's injuries have anything to do with the jet engine she had also heard earlier? And what about Storm looking like she hadn't slept at all? Was she some how connected to Scott and Jean?

Kate shook her head and closed her eyes. _That's it. No more History Channel before bed. I'm starting to see conspiracies where there are none._

"Something wrong?" Professor Xavier asked Kate.

"No, sir. Nothing's wrong. The food is wonderful."

"Thank you. I'll pass your compliments along to Cook. I also have some good news. The state police called this morning. Route 152 is open again."

Kate smiled and heaved a huge sigh of relief, echoed by the other stranded people at the table. She could go home at long last. Scott's problems, whatever they were, could wait for another time.

**************

Kate was never so happy to see her townhome as she was that afternoon when she pulled into her parking spot. The mansion was gorgeous and very comfortable but it wasn't home. The frigid air slapped her face when she climbed from her SUV. She needed to collect her mail and Midge, in that order and then, she could just curl up on the couch and do nothing.

"Kate!" Brenda shouted when she opened her front door. "When did you make it back?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Thank you so much keeping Midge. I felt a whole lot better knowing she was with you." Kate replied.

"Not a problem, she was a perfect lady. Come on in, we'll talk."

Kate stamped her boots and walked in. Midge, as she soon discovered, was fast asleep on the couch. Kate looked at Brenda, who shrugged.

"Not my dog." Brenda said.

Kate shook her head.

"Sit, sit, tell me, what's it like to spend the night in a mansion?"

"Kinda like spending the night in the mansion from Clue. I swear, it's that big and that mysterious. I got lost twice, once last night and once this morning."

Brenda snickered and said "Tell me about the dance."

Kate did, up to and including Gordon's kiss.

"He kisses you, then leaves? Men." Brenda said, shaking her head.

Midge woke up at that moment. She yawned and jumped down from the couch before walking over to Kate and staring at her.

"Oh, Lord. What's the phrase? In the doghouse?" Kate asked, reaching down to scratch Midge's head.

Brenda laughed and said "Don't let her guilt you, we had a lovely time last night."

"Thanks again for taking care of Midge again. I'm ready to just collapse."

"I bet. If you want to someone to talk to, you know where I am."

Kate hugged Brenda. "I can't thank you enough."

Brenda showed them to the door, then Kate and Midge were out in the frigid air, headed home.

*************

Christmas Eve snuck up on Kate and found her in a present wrapping frenzy with the help of Midge and Brenda. Midge helped by running off with the ribbons, then the cards, then the tape and finally, some of the wrapping paper, which earned her a banishment to Kate's bedroom. Not to be forgotten in the midst of such excitement, she sat on the other side of the door and whined. Both Kate and Brenda did a stellar job of ignoring her.

"Just like a child, complains when she's not the center of attention." Brenda said, with a grin. She leaned past Kate and plucked a ribbon from a bag on the floor near her.

"Now don't be too harsh on poor Midge, she did want to help, she just got in the way." Kate replied. She concentrated on taping the wrapping paper to the box in front of her and completely missed the look on Brenda's face.

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Want something to drink? My legs could use a stretch."

"Sure. I think I've got some soda in the frig. You could also make some coffee if you want."

Brenda stood, stretched and walked into the kitchen. She took the remains of dinner, pizza again, and dumped it down the disposal. No sense in leaving something out that would attract bugs. She opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. A carton of milk, a loaf of bread, some dog food and a six pack of soda were all she saw. She shut the door and shook her head.

"At least your dog isn't going to starve." Brenda said over the counter dividing the kitchen from the living room.

"Hey, it's a pain to have to cook for just one person and by the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is cook." Kate replied. She finished taping the box in front of her and joined Brenda. "Thanks for coming over. I never get around to wrapping my Christmas presents before Christmas Eve."

Brenda rolled her eyes. "Well, you wouldn't have had any real problems if you hadn't decided to buy something for each kid and adult at that school of yours."

"Hey, without that job, Midge and I would be out on the streets. Or would you like a permanent roommate?" Kate asked.

Brenda shook her head and started looking around the kitchen. "Where did you hide the tea kettle? It's too cold for soda."

Kate produced the tea kettle and set about making the tea. Brenda held off asking any other questions while Kate was doing so, no sense in distracting her and causing an accident. When the tea was ready, Kate handed one cup to Brenda and waved at the kitchen table.

"Have a seat. Sugar, milk?" she asked.

"No, thanks. I like it how I like my men, hot and bitter." Brenda said, with a totally straight face.

Kate snorted but managed to keep from choking on her tea. "You read waaaaaay too many romance novels."

"And your point is? Speaking of men, heard from Gordon lately?"

"Not since the Christmas party. I do wish I knew what the problem was. He's such a nice guy. I hate to see him that unhappy or think that I was the cause of it." Kate fell silent and sipped her tea.

"If men were understandable, we wouldn't have nearly as many problems with them as we do." Brenda said.

"They could probably say the same about us. You think I should call him? See what the deal is?"

Brenda shrugged, finished her tea and stood up. "My work here is done. Were I you, I'd wait until after Christmas, maybe even after New Year's to call. He's probably up to his ears in relatives right now and I bet he had all *his* Christmas presents wrapped weeks ago."

"Keep it up and Midge'll have one more box to chew on." Kate told her. She walked Brenda to the door and gasped when she opened it. "No matter how long I live up here, winter is always a surprise."

Brenda laughed. She turned to go but stopped, peering out into the darkness instead.

"What is it?" Kate asked, cold beyond words.

"I think there's someone over by your car but I can't tell." Brenda said in a low tone.

"They're probably visiting friends and parked next to me." Kate said but she looked past Brenda anyway and sure enough, she could just make out someone crouched next to her Durango. Both women watched for a moment, thinking perhaps that the person would collect their keys or whatever had made them bend over and be on their way. When that did not happen, Kate pulled Brenda back inside and shut the door.

"Now, what?" she asked.

"Call the cops." Brenda said. "Some guy's lurking by your car. That'd be enough to make me call."

"I'm not bothering the police with something minor like this."

"And when your Durango is stolen...I'll call. If you've got binoculars, look out the front window and see if you can't get a decent description."

But Kate didn't have any binoculars. So, she made do with her own two eyes and squinted out her front window. _This is one of those times when being a mutant would help. I might be able to see what that guy is doing._ She thought.

"Anything?" Brenda asked at her elbow, making Kate jump.

"Are the police coming?"

"Of course. Can you see anything at all?"

If Kate looked very hard, she could just make out a set of broad shoulders and a hat stuck on top of the shoulders. "It's a man."

Before the police could arrive, shouting could be heard from the parking lot and Kate opened the door to see why. Her next door neighbor, a retired forest ranger, was yelling at the man standing next to her Durango. He came down the walkway towards the man with a baseball bat, yelling at the man to go away.

The man did, allowing Kate to see what he looked like. He was an older man, taller than Gordon but not as tall as Scott. He looked over his shoulder at the Durango, then at Kate's townhouse before disappearing into the darkness.

"Kate, I'd have my car looked at tomorrow if I were you." Kate's neighbor said, when he came back up the walk. "There's no telling what that guy was up to."

She nodded. "Thanks for scaring him away, Keith."

"You're welcome. I'm sorry I didn't get a real good look at him but I tell the police what I saw. Here they are now." Keith headed back down the walk and waved down the police.

"He's right, you know. Maybe someone at your school could look at it and see if there's anything weird." Brenda said.

"Whatever happened to the Christmas spirit?" Kate grumbled.

**Chapter Eleven**

Christmas Day dawned clear and bright and Kate greeted it with a smile, mainly because she hadn't been up till all hours wrapping Christmas presents, thanks to Brenda. It was good to have friends. After a shower, breakfast and Midge's morning constitutional, she still had plenty of time to load up the car, stop at The Xavier School and still make it to her parents house by 2 p.m. If she wasn't at her parents by two, she would hear about it all next year, along with her marital status and lack of direction for her life.

She remembered both Keith's words and Brenda's from the night before when she put the first load of presents in her SUV. In the cold light of day, she didn't see the need to have someone crawling around under her car. The man she saw last night couldn't possibly have been able to do anything to the Durango, he was simply too old; but to make both of them happy, Kate said she'd have the SUV looked at. She shook her head and went to collect the last of presents. Sabotaging her car made no sense. Of course, sabotaging anyone's car made no sense.

She put the unpleasant thought from her mind and concentrated on the task ahead. Between the school and her family, she now resembled Mrs. Claus more than Ms. Renard but she enjoyed giving of herself and this year, she could actually afford to do so. She was blessed in the fact that she _had _a family, as odd as they may be. She had something that most of her students never would.

She scratched Midge behind the ears, told her to behave and left. She had toyed with idea of taking Midge along but decided against it. Midge was not fond of the Durango and Kate was not in the mood to clean up after her.

*********

She made it up the school's front steps, hands full, without slipping and rang the doorbell. It was close to 11 a.m. so, someone had to be up. Someone was, he just wasn't dressed for company. Gordon answered the door and Kate tried her best not to stare. She had never seen him in anything other than business clothes and now, here he was, dressed in plaid flannel pj bottoms, a charcoal colored henley and house shoes. He looked as surprised as she was.

"Kate, what brings you out here?" Gordon said. "Why aren't you with your family?" He winced and wished he could take back that last sentence.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Gordon. Santa left me a few packages to deliver and here I am." Kate held up the overstuffed shopping bags as evidence.

Gordon's eyes widened. "Boy, the kids must've been real good this year."

"They were. May I come in?" Kate asked. It was just above freezing outside and the cold was starting to seep into Kate's bones.

"Oh, of course." Gordon said. He opened the door wider and allowed Kate to walk past, shutting the door behind her. "We're in the living room. Let me take those bags."

She gratefully handed over the shopping bags and followed Gordon down the hall. Unlike a regular school day, silence lay thick about the house and it was weird not to hear the incessant giggling and talking of the students. She looked at Gordon as she walked and wondered why he was there.

Was he that surprised to see her? He seemed to be. She could always ask but wouldn't that be rude?

"I've always spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning here." Gordon said, answering her unspoken question. "The Xavier School is my family more than my biological family is."

She simply nodded.

The chatter Kate had been missing could be heard the closer they got to the living room. It never failed to amaze her at how cozy the inside of the mansion could be, compared with how vast and massive the mansion was on the outside. They walked into the living room and she was swept away by the controlled chaos going on before her. The giant Christmas tree that had been down in the solarium had been moved to its current position smack in the middle of the living room. (Either that or this was a second tree, which she didn't put past the good professor) All around the tree, in loose groups, standing and sitting were groups of adults and children laughing, talking, showing off their Christmas presents. Not a single person, save the Professor was dressed for company.

"Good morning, Ms. Renard! Merry Christmas!" Professor Xavier boomed a greeting to Kate as he wheeled his way over to her. "I did wonder who would be out on Christmas morning."

"Merry Christmas, Professor Xavier. I was asked by Santa to bring some presents over for the children." Kate replied.

"Wonderful! They'll be delighted to have more to open." The Professor turned and beckoned to several of the older children. Gordon relinquished the bags and melted back into the background. Soon, the air was filled with the sounds of ripping paper and then, exclamations like 'cool', 'wow' and 'neat' followed it. Kate smiled at the children's joy. Oh, to be a child again, when life was a little easier.

Professor Xavier cleared his throat and said "Children?"

"Thank you, Ms. Renard." The students said, almost as one. Kate spied a couple of her students enjoying their surprise presents, even if they felt they were too old to say so. Satisfied that her job was done, Kate edged toward the hallway. If she timed it right, no one would know she was gone.

She hadn't considered Professor Xavier.

"Oh, surely, you're not leaving just yet. You've just arrived." he told her.

"As much as I would love to stay, my parents are waiting for me. If I'm not there by 2 p.m., I will have to listen to a 15 minute lecture on punctuality."

Professor Xavier chuckled and said "Far be it from me to keep anyone from their familiar obligations. But are you sure you won't stay just a few more minutes? We so rarely have an opportunity to just...goof off."

Kate stared, a chuckle of her own rising to her lips. If Professor Xavier was relaxed enough to use slang, maybe she should stick around a while longer and see what else might happen. At look at her watch settled it. It wasn't even Noon and her parents were only an hour away from the school. She had timed it once. If she left by one, she'd be fine.

"All right, you twisted my arm."

Professor Xavier rewarded her with another smile.

***********

"You wrapped all those presents by yourself? You must've been up all night." Jean asked Kate. From where they sat, near the tree, Jean had an up-close look at just how much Kate had brought.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said yes. My neighbor, Brenda, came over to help and Midge helped too." Kate replied. One look around the busy room made her reluctant to leave and trek over to her parents house. She was happy right where she was.

"Even so. How long did it take?"

"A couple of hours. We ordered pizza. Brenda would have stayed longer but her feet were going to sleep and so was she, so..." Kate stopped and bit her lip, her promise to have someone look at her SUV popping into her mind.

"Forget something?"

"No, remembered something. I feel kinda dumb about it but I did promise that I would ask."

Jean looked at Kate expectantly, so, Kate related the previous evenings events after the wrapping of the presents was done. The question wasn't even out of Kate's mouth before Jean got up and fetched Scott from the other side of the room. Clad in a mismatched pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, he looked about twelve and Kate had to work to suppress the giggle that rose to her lips.

"Tell Scott what you just told me." Jean instructed.

Kate repeated her story, then added "For everyone's piece of mind, could you look at my Durango and see if anyone's been messing with it?"

"Sure. Hand me the keys and I'll check it out." Scott replied.

"I don't mean to make you go out into the cold, you're not dressed." Kate protested.

Scott shrugged. "I've been through worse. Besides, I'm going to drive it into the garage before looking at it."

What could she say in response? She handed over the keys to the Durango and watched Scott leave.

"Don't worry about a thing. Scott's a pro. If there's something wrong with your SUV, he'll find it. He's been working on my car for years. It's never ran better" Jean reassured Kate.

Scott not finding anything wrong with the Durango was not what Kate was really worried about. It was the time it took to look. She snuck a look at her watch. It was almost one. If Scott wasn't quick in looking at her SUV, she'd be late and that just could not happen.

"What's this about Kate's SUV, did it die or something?" Gordon asked, walking up to the two women. He had been happy to see Kate and had finally worked up the courage to come over and talk to her.

"Some weirdo was lurking near my SUV last night and I promised a couple of my neighbors I'd have it looked at." Kate answered, feeling just a wee bit self-consciousness, not to mention a bit foolish. Scott would come back, after finding nothing, and she could add stupid to the list.

"What?" Gordon looked at Jean, who nodded. "You called the police and everything?"

Kate nodded. "Of course but the guy was gone by the time they showed. My neighbor chased him away." She grinned at the memory.

Gordon chewed on the inside of his cheek. He didn't want to alarm Kate any further than she might be already. It was probably nothing.

//Jean, what do you think?// Gordon asked telepathically.

//I don't know. It could be kids playing a prank or someone into tracking mutant supporters.// She replied.

Jean was far closer than she realized for at that moment, Scott appeared in the doorway and he did not look happy. He schooled his face into neutrality so as not to alarm the others but came directly over to where Kate, Gordon and Jean were.

He leaned down and said "If all of you could follow me, I've found something. Jean, could you get the Professor's attention?"

Jean nodded and Kate felt her stomach fall into the pit of her toes. What had he found? Why did he look so unhappy? Would she make it to her parent's house by two?

The four of them, with Professor Xavier following along, trooped down to the garage. Kate flanked on both sides by Jean and Gordon, felt oddly comforted. These people hardly knew her and, yet, they were willing and happy to help in any way possible. Too bad more people didn't follow such an example.

In the garage, Scott pulled over a rolling tray table used to hold to tools while a mechanic worked on a car. This time, there was only one item on the table, a small black box with wires sticking out of it. Scott picked it up and passed it around. When Professor Xavier received it, his eyebrows went up and he traded looks with Scott.

Kate watched the two men, the suspense killing her. When she could stand it no more, she asked "What is it? And what was it doing on my car?"

"It is a tracking device." Scott replied. He took the box back from Professor Xavier and pointed at the wires poking out of the box. "These wires, or what's left of them, are what sends the locating signal to whoever is listening."

Kate stared down at the small box in Scott's hand. "You mean like James Bond, Mission Impossible, that kinda thing?" she asked.

"More like On-Star." he said.

"Really? What's it doing on my SUV? I'm not a spy, I'm a school teacher."

"I don't know. Do you think the guy that you saw last night could have put it on?" Scott asked.

"Only if he was able to morph into someone a whole lot younger. He could barely walk. Where'd you find it?"

Scott pointed towards the back bumper. "It wouldn't take much to put it where I found it. Anyone could have done it."

"Oh, that's just great. I'm being tracked by some unknown weirdo. Why would anyone want to track where I go? I lead a pretty dull life. I go to work and I go home. How interesting can that be?"

"And you work where?" Gordon asked quietly.

"At a school for mu...tants." The color drained from Kate's face. "Oh, my God. Someone's tracking me because I work here?" Her voice came out in a squeak. She nearly sat down on the floor but Gordon grabbed her and Jean whisked the closest chair over for her to sit in.

"Man, this really sucks! What do they think I do here? And who, exactly, are 'They'?" Kate demanded. But no one had any answers for her.

She happened to glance at her watch then and saw it was just after one.

"Oh, this just gets better and better." she moaned. "I'm supposed to be at my parent's house an hour from now." She looked up at Scott. "I can drive the Durango, can't I?"

"Sure but if I found the tracking device, what else is there that shouldn't be?" he replied.

Her shoulders slumped. "Any suggestions on how I'm going to get from here to Westchester without my SUV?"

Professor Xavier cleared his throat and said "There are plenty of cars here at your disposal." His lips twitched in an attempt to curb a smile. "Some of the teachers have a fondness for automobiles. We can even provide you with a driver, if you'd like."

Kate looked at Scott and said "Guess I don't have much of a choice. Thank you, Professor Xavier."

***********

Christmas was always a big deal in Kate's family and she loved in every single minute of it, from the trimming of the tree to addressing Christmas cards. Even taking down the tree was an occasion in her family. She reveled in the Christmas sprit, always feeling love and acceptance, something that a lot of her students knew very little about.

Seated on the floor, Kate smiled as she watched her two nieces and two nephews rip the wrapping paper off their Christmas presents, her thoughts returning to the children at The Xavier School. So many of them had come from such ugly places that her nephews and nieces would never know about and yet, both groups of children, thanks to the adults in their lives, were able to enjoy something as simple as unwrapping a Christmas present.

She enjoyed being around children, that's why she had become a teacher but she quailed at the thought of having children of her own. She had no patience for small children, no money and, most importantly, no husband. And she was quite happy to remain that way thank you very much.

"Auntie Kate, come play with us." Six year-old Brian demanded of her.

"That's not how you ask for somethin', Brian. You say 'Please, come and play with us.'." Narissa, Brian's ten-year old sister corrected him.

"You're not the boss of me." Brian shot back.

"And I wouldn't want to be." Narissa replied, loftily.

On that note, Kate figured she'd better join the children before World War III started. She swept four year-old Kyle and five year-old Gloria into a bear hug before tickling them, their squeals of delight lifting her soul.

************

"Who's the guy that dropped you off? And why was he dropping you off?" David, Kate's eldest brother, asked her after dinner. He sat down next to her on the divan, holding two mugs. He handed her one.

"The Durango quit on me this morning and he is a friend." Kate replied. She took a sip from the mug and smiled. Spiced cider, her mother's specialty.

"What kind of friend?" David asked, looking as innocent as possible.

Kate stared at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"I am your big brother and I have to know these things. I have to know if he is acceptable for you."

"Defending my honor, huh?"

"Absolutely."

"His name is Gordon and you don't have to worry about defending me against him. He's the one who told me about the job I just got. He's sweet but...I don't know." Kate shook her head and sipped her cider.

David mulled that over for a few minutes, then said "I guess that'll do. He better behave himself or else."

"David, you don't do violent well, you know that?" Kate asked him.

He shrugged. "Like I care. Let's see, boyfriend asked about, check. Moving on to work."

"Oh, so, you're the inquisitor this year?" She eyed her brother over the rim of the mug.

"You'd have spotted Mom, sidestepped Dad, blown off Abby and ignored Joe. So it fell to me to dig into your personal and professional life, such as it is." In one sentence, he had neatly ticked off all the members of their family and nailed Kate with his descriptions.

She colored but did not reply.

"Believe it or not, this isn't fun for me either. But, frankly, between you and Mom, Mom wins." he grinned.

"Weenie." she replied.

"I've been called worse. Now, about work, Mom says you're working for a mutant rights activist."

Kate smiled and sipped at her cider. She loved needling David, he always took the bait.

Her brother's eyes grew wide and he repeated himself "You _are_ working for a mutant rights activist."

"Charles Xavier is _not_ an activist. He's an advocate for civil rights for all people. He's a very, very rich man..." Kate started to say.

"Who, out of the goodness of his heart is running a boarding school for teenagers?" David finished for her.

"What's wrong with that? Ever heard of the Milton Hershey School for Boys?" Kate replied.

"Must be nice to have that kind of money."

"Even if he is in favor of mutant rights, what's the big deal?"

David stared at Kate as if she'd just grown a second head.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh, what? People act like mutants are contagious. As far as I know, they're not. They're still human beings."

"Human beings that can throw other human beings without touching them. That's not a small thing."

"Okay, wrap your brain around this. According to what I've seen on tv, the gene for mutants skips around and doesn't activate until that person becomes a teenager. If that's the case, your children could become mutants. What would you do if Brian becomes one or Narissa? Would you throw them out or would you try to accept them for who they are?"

David did not reply. He could not reply.

"Look, I love to spend my time around children, that's why I'm a teacher. I don't like seeing them persecuted because of something they had no control over. It's like...it's like what Hitler did to the Jews during World War II. Was that right?" Kate asked him.

"Of course not." David replied, seeing his little sister in a whole new light. "Just promise me that you're not going to show up on tv waving some mutant rights placard. The rest of us will never hear the end of it from Mom."

"I'll stay out of the way of the camera." Kate replied, with a chuckle.

**Chapter Twelve**

Late in the afternoon, Gordon reappeared to shuttle Kate back to the school. He did not get out and come in, he simply waited in the car until the good-byes were said and the front door had closed, before climbing from the car and holding the passenger side door open for her.

"My family doesn't bite." Kate said as Gordon pulled the car out into traffic. "They would've been quite happy to meet you."

"I'm sure they would've." Gordon responded. "But, Kate, I don't even like dealing with my family, let alone someone else's."

She nodded and refrained from pointing out how he hadn't had a problem 'dealing with' the people at the mansion that morning.

"Shall I assume that Christmas did not go well with your family?" She asked, after a few minutes silence.

He shrugged. "Don't get me wrong. I love my family and they love me. They would do anything in the world for me. It's just that...we're not the emotional kind. And on top of that, there are always the questions. 'When are you going to get married?' 'When are we going to see some grandchildren?' 'What ever happened to that nice girl from...?' 'Mrs. Jensen's daughter is single, why don't you two go out?'." He stopped the car at a stop light and shot Kate a look. "But you wouldn't know about those kind of questions, would you?"

Kate snorted and said "You're joking, right? You think that just because I'm not a single man, I don't get the same round of questions? Whatever. This year, my mother sent my eldest brother over to give me the third degree."

The light turned green and Gordon eased the car through the intersection and into the left lane. "And?" he asked.

"And?" she repeated. "I told my mother a very long time ago that if she wanted grandchildren, she'd better talk to my brothers and sisters 'cause they weren't coming from me. My brother did want to know who that 'handsome guy' was that dropped me off this morning."

Gordon grinned and Kate grinned back.

"He's not going to 'call me out' or anything like that, is he?" Gordon asked.

"Only if you intend to besmirch my honor." Kate replied with straight face.

"Well, I guess I'll have to get a dictionary before I prepare for him." He stopped the car at another red light and looked at Kate again. "You don't want children?"

She looked at him. "Do you?"  
"Depends." He replied, with a shrug. "If I had kids though, I'd want them to be non-mutant. Their lives would be easier."

The light turned green, Gordon put the car in gear and brought the conversation to an end.

**********

"How often do you regret being a mutant?" Kate asked, much, much later into the drive back to the school.

He glanced at her before responding. "I don't regret being a mutant. It's part of who I am, I can't change that. Do I wish that I wasn't? No more than a blind man wishes he could see."

She mulled over his response but didn't ask anything else. He had been nothing but honest with her and she felt certain that he would continue to be honest if she was to ask anything else but it felt weird to do so. She didn't want to pry into his private life even if she was bubbling with curiosity about it. There was so much she wanted to know about him and how he handled his mutation but she didn't want to rude and keep asking. She could read people fairly well but but she couldn't read Gordon at all. That left her at loss for what to say.

Gordon bit the inside of his cheek and tried to keep a smile from his lips. It amused him to see Kate struggling with the decision to ask any more questions. It was refreshing to see that there was someone out there that didn't assume that his life as a mutant was an open book.

"I'm so happy that my silence amuses you." Kate said, breaking into Gordon thoughts.

"Perhaps it's you and not your silence that makes me smile." Gordon replied.

He flipped on the turn signal and turned the car onto Greymalkin Lane. They were almost to the school.

"You're a good person, Kate. You were exactly the right person for the job. I am proud to have recommended you to Professor Xavier."

Surprised at the unexpected praise, Kate blushed and her mind went blank. What could she say?

"Have I shocked you into the silence?" Gordon asked.

Kate shook her head and changed the subject. "What else do you think that Scott found on my car?"

"I honestly don't know. There are all kinds of weirdoes out there and those are the ones who _do_ like mutants. Are you scared?"

"Not scared. Annoyed. Like I told Scott this morning, I'm not a spy. I'm a freakin' English teacher. Why pick on me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have an answer for that. Scott might. If he doesn't, the Professor will." He slowed the car, turned and drove through the gates of the mansion. "I trust the Professor implicitly. I hope you do too."

**********

"Well? What else did you find?" Kate asked Scott. They had walked down to the garage together and were standing in front of Kate's SUV.

"Absolutely nothing. I checked every inch of your car and there was absolutely nothing else on it." Scott replied.

Kate frowned and said "So, I didn't have to bother Gordon for a ride after all."

"You couldn't know that." Scott said. "What if...?"

"I know, I know...Man, what a pain in the butt. So, what was the deal with the tracking thingy?" Kate said.

Scott bit back a smile. "I'm thinking it was one of two things. 1. It was put there by some whiz kid neighbor of yours who decided that it would be cool to see if the tracking device he built really worked. 2. Someone, some group, sees you a threat but not enough of a threat to actually do anything more than keep track of your movements."

Kate suppressed a shudder and said "You know, that offers zero comfort."

Scott shrugged. "Sorry. But based on what I've learned, that's the best I can do, for the moment anyway."

"Can I drive it home?" She asked.

"Absolutely. I meant to mention this earlier but I forget. As an added bonus for working here, I'll be happy to do any and all maintenance on your car, free of charge." He replied.

"Really?" She asked.

He smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Scott. I'll take you up on that next month."

"Before you go, I've been asked to send you back to mansion so you can't leave without saying good-bye."

She quirked an eyebrow. "What are you? Working for my mother?"  
"I'll never tell." Scott said.

She shrugged. "All right, I'll go peacefully. Can I give you a ride around to the front?"

"Sure. And, listen, just keep an eye out for any weirdness on or near your car. If you see anything..."

"Call you." She said.  
"Excellent. Now if only I could get my students to answer that quickly."

"Hey, my parents always said I was a quick study." She replied.

**********

Kate did exactly as she was told but saw no one else lurking in or near her car the entire holiday season. New Year's Eve/Day came and went and, as in year's past, she watched the ball drop in Time's Square with Brenda and Midge. Gordon joined the two women that time and they all sat together on the floor with Midge sprawled in Gordon's lap and rang in the new year. Kate could not remember another time when she had seen Gordon more relaxed. She could hardly remember a time when she had seen him relaxed period. This was definitely something to remember.

Then, like the snapping of a set of fingers, Christmas Break was over and Kate was having to readjust herself to getting up early all over again. She had a bit of added incentive this semester, breakfast at the mansion. The beginning of a new semester was always exciting for Kate. It was a fresh start and a new beginning. It was a clean slate, to use an educational metaphor. She had prepared for the new semester with an updated list of student powers, Scott's lesson plans and a fresh sense of purpose, something she hadn't had in a very long time.

On the drive to school that morning, she realized that she had missed her students, _truly_ missed them and that surprised her. She had never missed her students at The Crestwell School, she liked them but she had never missed them. She was excited about teaching again and that made all the difference in the world when the alarm went off in the morning.

It was with that new found excitement that she faced her young charges and prepared to shepherd them through the Spring Semester novel reading list. The list composed by the State of New York for the public school system was not required for private schools but was normally followed by the schools anyway. Thus, the 7th Grade was reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond and the 8th Grade was reading The Scarlet Letter. Both novels covering, coincidentally, the persecution of specific groups of people. To extend the ciriculum to another subject, Storm had agreed to do the Crusades and the Salem Witch Trials to cover persecution from the historical side.

"They'll be amazed that other people down through the ages have been singled out for abuse. Being teenagers, they figure they're the first and only ones to suffer." Storm told Kate before class began one day.

"The Scarlet Letter isn't going to be too much for 7th graders to hear, is it?" Kate asked.

"As long as the 8th graders don't object to hearing The Witch of Blackbird Pond again." Storm replied.

********

"I don't get what the big deal was." Anthony Toliver, 14, said to Kate during a class discussion the next week. "So she was doing the deed with someone she wasn't married to. Big deal. Why was she picked on? Why not the guy she was doin' it with?"

From her spot in front of the class, Kate cringed inwardly, certain that she had probably used some of the same terminology in front of _her_ jr. high English teacher.

"Ah, but Anthony that is the point of the story. Hester Pryne was labeled as an adulterer but the man she slept with was not. Can someone tell me why?"

Hands shot in the air.

"Yes, Chantal. Why wasn't her lover labeled as an adulterer as well?"

"Because he was a man and he had a higher standing in the community. Men were allowed to get away with murder back then." Chantel, also 14, replied, glaring at Anthony.

"Excellent. Can you add anything else?"

"He could have stood up for her but he didn't and it got him in the end."

"Very good."

Chantal beamed.

"So, the point of the story is 'Judge not, less ye be judged.'" Kate said.

Anthony screwed up his face and said "You sound like Mr. Wagner."

"Vagner." Kate corrected him. "You pronounce the 'w' like a 'v' for German names. Do you see the point of the story now?"

"There's one set of rules for him and another set for her?"  
"Yes."

"That sucks."

"Yes, it does."

"That's like now."

"Duh." Anthony's classmate, Grace, a mere 13, looked at him and said "That's why we're reading it. So, we can see that we're not the only people to ever get picked on."

Kate's eyebrows went up. Either Grace had been listening in on the teacher conversations or she was far sharper than anyone gave her credit for.

"How do you know that?" Anthony said.  
"Because I pay attention, unlike you." Grace, replied in a superior tone.

"All right. I think you've made your point, Grace." Kate said. No sense in letting the students get too far off track.

"It's not my fault that he doesn't pay attention in class." Grace said.

"No, that's my fault and thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now, are there any other questions about The Scarlet Letter ?" Kate asked the students.

Silence.

"Okay, moving onto The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Any similarities between The Scarlet Letter and The Witch of Blackbird Pond ?"

Hands went up.

"Yes, Chantal."

"Same time period?"

"Um...not quite but you're close." Kate looked around the room and chose another student. "Yes, Brian?"

"Ugly people shouldn't be allowed to have kids." he said. A lanky 7th Grader, Brian hadn't yet developed the skill of censoring his thoughts before opening his mouth. It was a constant source of trouble for him.

Like now.

Kate quirked an eyebrow. "Can you phrase that differently?"

Brian frowned in thought then shook his head. "Nope."

"If that was the case, you wouldn't be here." Anthony said, turning around and looking at Brian.

"Oh, yeah?" Brian retorted. "I've seen your mama, she's no prize."

"At least, I've got a mother. What about you?" Anthony shot back.

"Okay, you two, enough." Kate said, the warning clear in her tone. She moved toward the boys. If she could get close enough without getting between them, she could end a fight before it started.

Brian stood up. "You take that back!" he shouted at Anthony.

"Make me." Anthony sneered.

Brian pointed his hand at Anthony, lifted him from his desk and flung him toward the chalkboard. Anthony collided with Kate and set both of them backwards, over Kate's desk and landing in a heap on the other side.

Papers flew, books flew and children scattered.

"What'cha got to say now?" Brian taunted Anthony.

Anthony moved to get up but Kate locked her hand on his ankle.

"Move and you're dead." she growled.

Anthony froze.

The classroom door flew open and Scott came running in with Logan hard on his heels.

"What on Earth is going on?" Scott demanded. "It sounded like World War III in here."

Ten sets of fingers pointed at Brian.

"It's not my fault." Brian whined. "Anthony started it."

"Where is Ms. Renard?" Scott asked, ignoring Brian's response for the moment.

"Over here." Kate waved a hand from behind the desk. She slowly climbed to her feet. Anthony joined her.

"Are you both all right?" he asked.

Both Kate and Anthony nodded and Kate noticed the look of...she couldn't quite say... on Scott's face. It wasn't annoyance or irritation but sort of a cross between the two.

"Someone want to tell me what was going on in here? This is an English class, not P.E." Scott told the students.

An abbreviated version of the fight was told to both Scott and Logan. When the story was finished, Scott looked first at Anthony then at Brian.

"It doesn't matter who started it, Brian, you shouldn't have continued it." Scott said to Brian. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "I am extremely disappointed in both of you. Logan, could you take these two down to Professor Xavier's office?"

"Sure. C'mon you two." Logan motioned to both boys.

With dragging feet and long faces, Brian and Anthony followed Logan from the classroom.

Scott eyed Kate critically from across the desk, turned and said "Katrina, go get Dr. Grey, please."

Katrina nodded and left the classroom.

"Guys," Scott continued, looking at the remaining children, "take your stuff and go next door. When I get there, I'd better see noses in books, understand?"

Eight heads nodded in unison, then, very quietly, the children packed up their school books and papers and left.

"See you guys tomorrow." Kate called after them. Never in all her years of teaching had she felt so powerless. No wonder the students looked to Scott, he was a born leader, unlike herself. She much preferred to follow.

"You didn't have to interrupt Jean's class. I'm fine." Kate said.

"Humor me, Kate." Scott replied. "Unless you and Anthony were already behind your desk when the fight broke out, both you and Anthony went over a wooden desk and landed on the floor. And Anthony is no light weight."

Not knowing what else to say, Kate simply nodded and sank into her chair. What a wild day it was turning out to be.

Jean breezed through the classroom door a few minutes later. She looked at Kate, she looked at the mess and then she looked at her husband.

"Kate will tell you what happened. I'm going back to my class so things don't get any more out of hand." Scott told her before leaving.

Jean looked at Kate for a long moment before she related the events of the past hour.

Jean shook her head and said "Wow, all this over The Scarlet Letter ? I'm going to have to reread that book. I don't remember it being that good."

"It's not" Kate replied. "I apparently made the clossal mistake of asking one too many questions, which, and I'm still trying to figure out how, caused the discussion to degenerate into a shouting match about someone's parentage."

Jean quirked an eyebrow. "I can almost see that happening with The Scarlet Letter but I don't know about the other one."

Kate shook her head. "The books were just the spark, someone was looking for a fight and they got one."

Jean nodded. "Okay, look up for me."

A few minutes a later the exam was over and Jean delivered her diagnosis. "You're going to be bruised from where you hit the desk but other than that. No serious damage. If you feel sore, take some aspirin." Her brow wrinkled for a moment then relaxed. "Professor Xavier wants you to come to his office. Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

"Thank God for small favors." Kate muttered. "I'm sorry that you were pulled away from your class. It was Scott's idea. I didn't want to bother you."

Jean waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. My students were more than happy to have a reprieve, however brief. Gives them one more chance to look at their notes before the test." She smiled a truly evil smile.

"Do your students know the enjoyment that you take from tormenting them?" Kate asked.

"Torment is such an ugly word. I prefer...I simply want them to remember and explain what's happened in class." Jean said, with another truly evil smile.

It wasn't until Kate was halfway to Professor Xavier's office that a light bulb came on and it occurred to her that the only reason Jean knew to tell her to come to the Professor's office was that Jean had received a telepathic message from the Professor smack in front of her and it hadn't freaked her out in the least.

It had to be a sure sign that she was finally settling into her new job.

She reached the Professor's office and knocked on the door. The door swung open and she walked in. Professor Xavier was facing her and her two students sat in front of his desk with their backs to Kate.

"Good morning, Ms. Renard." Professor Xavier said. "I was not expecting to see you again until Lunch. Do have a seat." He eyed both of the boys, who, instantly stood up.

"Thank you." Kate said, sitting down. "I wasn't expecting to see you until Lunch either."

"Brian and Anthony have something they want to say to you."

_Have to say is more like it._ Kate thought.

First Brian, then Anthony, apologized for their behavior, then Brian added something else.

"I didn't mean for you to get tangled up with Anthony, you weren't supposed to." He glowered at Anthony.

"I understand." Kate replied. "And I appreciate your sincerity and your apologies, both of you. But what about the others you involved? Have you apologized to Mr. Summers? To Logan? To Dr. Grey or Professor Xavier? What about your classmates? You interrupted a lot of people this morning, as I'm sure Professor Xavier has told you."

Both boys nodded.

"All right, collect your belongings and return here immediately." Professor Xavier told the boys.

Kate watched them go, then asked "What happens now?"

"I have a group of study carrels set up next door. If the boys can not behave in a classroom, they will not _be_ in a classroom." Professor Xavier said. "For the next week, they will sit in those carrels next door and work. They will take their meals in there, they will not be allowed to talk to their friends or even each other. Worst of all, they will be stuck with me." He smiled. "I can be quite the task master, if I so chose."

Kate grinned. She couldn't help it. She was seeing a whole new side of Professor Xavier and she liked it.

"Do you want to take a bit of time to gather your thoughts before your next class? Scott would be more than happy to watch the children."

Kate shook her head. "I'll go nuts, if I just sit."

Professor Xavier nodded. "I understand."

Kate thought for a moment and smiled, then said "My next class is going to be buzzing about this."

"As long as there are no more fisticuffs. I only have so much room next door." The Professor said with a smile.

As if on cue, Brian and Anthony appeared in the office doorway and Professor Xavier directed them next door.

"From your mouth to God's ears." Kate replied.

**Chapter Thirteen**

That evening, Kate arrived home tired, sore and in doubt, again, about her chosen profession. She let herself in, sprawled on the couch and kicked off her shoes. Midge came over, sniffed her foot and whined.

"I know, I know." Kate told her. "Gimme a minute."

She stared at the ceiling and let all the dark thoughts that had been bubbling all day come to the surface.

_What kind of whack job am I to be working with mutant children? Why the hell couldn't I get a normal job in the normal world with a normal paycheck? What happens the _next_ time one of the kids gets mad? I really hate my job sometimes. _

The litany ran through her head again and again until Midge barked and Kate was forced to get up and walk her. Afterwards, Kate noticed she had new messages on her answering machine. She pushed 'play' on the answering machine, then went to hang up her coat and Midge's leash before going into the kitchen to start dinner, hers and Midge's. The messages were ordinary until the last one.

There was an intake of breath, then a male voice said _"I know who you are and I know what you're doing, you mutant loving freak. If you value your life, find another job. It'd be a real shame for something to happen to you or that cute little dog of yours."_ There was a click and a beep signaling the end of the messages.

Kate stared at the machine, her mouth hanging open. She pressed the 'play' button again and listened to the message a second time just to make sure she wasn't hearing things. It was real and it scared the hell out of her. Then it made her mad. Just who did this person think he was? Did he actually expect her to quit? Quit the best paying job she'd ever had? Oh, yeah, sure!

The doorbell chimed breaking the silence and making her shriek and jump in the air. A knock followed the doorbell which was then followed by a voice.

"Kate? Are you all right? Did I come at a bad time?" Gordon's voice came through the door.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry but she did go answer the door, after making sure that it really was Gordon.

He took one look at her face and said "My God, was your day _that_ bad?"

She had him follow her into the kitchen and played the message for him. This time, it was Gordon's mouth that was hanging open. He was quick to act, however. Before the message had even finished, he was on his cell phone.

"Who are you calling? The police?" she asked.

"Better. I'm calling Professor Xavier."

*******

Before Kate arrived the next morning, Professor Xavier gathered the adults together in his study to listen to the answering machine message and solicit suggestions from the others. He played the message twice.

After the second playing, Professor Xavier looked at the assembled group and said "As I'm sure you're aware Ms. Renard is not at all happy to be receiving such messages. She's not so much upset as she is irritated. She also wants this problem resolved as quickly as possible but I'm stating the obvious, am I not? She is well aware of the possible dangers the message might possibly bring but is reluctant to alter her schedule too much; she said as much to me on the phone last night. I did offer her and her dog a room here in the mansion but she turned down the offer. She doesn't want the people doing this to think that they influenced her in any way. Now, with all of that said, does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this problem?"

"How many people know that she works at a school for mutants?" Storm asked.

"Kate says no one. All she has told her friends and family is that she works at a private school now."

"What about her last job? Maybe one of the people there knows where she's working now and's insulted that she left there." Logan said.

"That is an excellent point. Could you investigate that further?" Professor Xavier asked him.

"Sure." Logan said, shrugging.

"How would Kate feel about having her phone line tapped?" Scott asked. "If the call could be traced, we might have our answer."

"That is an idea. What's the downside?" the Professor asked.

"The only real problem is that the trace only works as long as the phone call. Whoever it is may not talk long enough to get a fix on his position."

"Wouldn't it be easier to look at her phone bills?" Jean asked.

"Possibly." the Professor replied. "It is something to keep in mind. Anything else?"

"Not with what you said she doesn't want to do." Logan said.

"Logan, it is possible to help Ms. Renard and stay within the law." the Professor said to him.

"Maybe but it's not nearly as much fun." Logan replied with a grin.

Storm and Jean snickered, Kurt looked a bit lost and Scott just shook his head.

Professor Xavier ended the discussion for the moment by saying "Kate will be arriving soon, we will continue this discussion after school with her."

********

The school day started with a bit of a surprise for Kate. Brian and Anthony came into the classroom and each handed her a letter. Kate didn't have to open the envelopes to know what the letters were about.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday." Brian said to her. "It was ...was..."

"Inexcusable." Anthony whispered in Brian's ear.

"It was inexcusable and it will not happen again. Please accept my apologies." Brian finished and looked away. He avoided her gaze and the looks directed to him by his classmates.

Kate quirked an eyebrow. Professor Xavier must have had real words with the boys yesterday. Two apologies in two days. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for _that_ conversation.

"I'm real sorry, Ms. Renard. I just got mad." Brian added.

Kate sighed and said "Your apology is accepted, Brian but please _think_ next time. That will make life easier for everyone."

He nodded and stepped out of the way so Anthony could talk.

Anthony made the same apology as Brian but he didn't add anything to it. He also didn't look Kate in the face. He looked over her left shoulder. Kate accepted his apology as well then sent them back to Professor Xavier. The other students watched them go, then looked at Kate for an explanation that they didn't really need.

"Actually, I think I should be asking _you_ what happened, not the other way around. This school has a grapevine that The National Enquirer would kill for." Kate told her students.

Laughter rolled through the classroom, then, one of the girls, Adriana, raised her hand.

"Ms. Renard? Why is the word 'grapevine' connected to gossip?"

"It comes from the phrase 'I heard through it through the grapevine'." Kate replied.

As she knew they would, several of her students started to hum the music to the 1960's hit song.

"All right, all right. Enough." Kate waved her hands. "This is not music class."

"It could be." Micah, age 14, piped up with. "Mr. Summers could help teach it. He can sing you know."

"Do tell." Kate replied. Scott as a singer simply boggled her mind. He just didn't seem to be the type. He was too serious, most of the time. "Okay, tell you what, we'll talk about where our slang comes from for the first part of class but the last part of class will be about your novels and you _will_ have homework. You might even have _more_ homework than normal. Deal?"

Eight heads nodded in unison.

"Great. Let's start by chewing on this word, etymology. What does it mean?"

Nicholas, age 13, held up his hand. "The study of bugs?"

Kate shook her head. "No, that's entomology. Think about it. What does etymology mean?"

Adriana held her hand up. "The study of words?"

"Excellent! Yes, you are right. Did you know or did you guess?" Kate asked her.

"I guessed. You were talking about words and phrases and sayings, then you asked about that word. They all had to be connected."

"Very good. You use context clues well. That's a good skill to have."

Adriana smiled and blushed.

"Okay, now that we know what to call the study of words and phrases, let's look at the phrase that started our discussion. Who can tell me where 'I heard it through the grapevine' from?"

Hands shot in the air but Kate chose someone who hadn't volunteered in class yet. She picked on Bradley, he was new to the school and seemed like he wanted to participate.

He looked at her, chewed on his lip, then said "Because grapevines run along the ground and spread everywhere and so does gossip?"

"Very good. I'm impressed."

Bradley smiled.

*********

In the hallway, Scott paused on his way back to his classroom to listen to Kate for a moment. Cocking his head, he picked up on Kate's lesson for the day. He grinned, then went on his way, humming quietly to himself. The study of words and their origins was not in the lesson plans but those plans were not carved in stone. Besides, if Kate could keep the kids attention for longer than five minutes, more power to her.

He sat down at his desk, his mind moving far ahead of the present moment. Kate was a good teacher. More than that, she was a good person and he would do whatever was necessary to protect her.

********

All of her years of sitting through endless faculty meetings, and actually getting something useful out of them, could not have prepared Kate for her most current faculty meeting. She hadn't even known there would be one that afternoon until Storm told her over lunch. But she should have known that that meeting would be totally different from any other meetings she would attend. Kurt and Logan were in attendance and they hardly ever were.

"Guten abend, Kate." _Good day_ Kurt said to her when she came in.

"Guten tag, Kurt." _Good day_ Kate replied. She hesitated for a moment then said "Wie geht es dir?" _How are you?_

Kurt's face lit up. "Sprechen sie Deutsch?" _Do you speak German?_

"No, I went to a German language website."

"That's all right. We will work on it. You'll be speaking German very, very soon." Kurt said, smiling at her.

Professor Xavier cleared his throat and the meeting began. "Before we begin in earnest, Ms. Renard," He said to Kate, "you should know we, all of us, discussed the problems you've been suffering through this morning and that this meeting now, is a continuation of this morning's discussion."

Kate stared at the Professor. She didn't quite know what to say. She had never been the subject of an entire meeting before. She was touched by his, and the school's, concern. They wanted to keep her safe. How...how...sweet.

"Um...what was the consensus?" she managed to say.

"That there a variety of options open but most of them you will most certainly not like and all of them are contingent upon your approval." Professor Xavier replied.

Kate chewed on her lip and let the silence build while she thought. She looked at the assembled group before her, took a breath and said "Thank you for your concern, all of you. I am more than willing to give my permission for whatever you deem necessary, Professor Xavier but after I've had time to review the options you've come up with."

Professor Xavier nodded.

"But I have to say that I'm willing only up to a point. I want, I need, as little disruption in my life as possible. I'm not discounting the threats I've received or the danger they may pose. I'm just not willing to hide behind a wall unless I absolutely have to."

"That is completely understandable. None of us want to force you to do anything you don't have to. The primary goal, as we see it, is to catch whoever is harassing you and hand him, her, whoever, over to the authorities, agreed?"

Kate nodded. While it would supremely satisfying to, say, let Logan have five minutes alone with the creep, she knew that wouldn't be the right solution.

"To that end, a tiny video camera can be installed in your SUV as well as slightly larger video cameras installed around your townhouse. The video would come back here and, if needed, Kurt could be dispatched to catch whoever it is."

The idea of Kurt as part of a security system made Kate smile. Wouldn't that creep have a story to tell the cops?

"You wouldn't mind?" Kate asked him.

"Not at all. As long as I can see where I'm going, I can go anywhere, distance does not matter." Kurt replied.

_Wouldn't Midge have a fit if she saw Kurt?_ Kate thought.

"Where would the cameras be located?" Kate asked.

"There would be at least two on your house, one in the front and one in the back." Logan said.

Kate nodded and said "I like the idea but I'd like to hear the other suggestions first."

"Yer not gonna like them." Logan said.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, frowning at him.

"'Cause they involve stuff like moving here, havin' a bodyguard, gettin' someone to drive ya and you don't seem like the kind of person who'd go along with stuff like that."

_You got that right._ Kate thought.

She looked at Professor Xavier and asked "Where those all the options?"

The Professor nodded. "I did say you would not like most of them."

She sighed, looked at the concerned faces surrounding her and sighed again. Her life would have been so much easier if she had just stayed at The Crestwell School.

_You can't go back, you can only go forward._ The phrase came to her unbidden.

"I know I said I needed time to think and consider the options but I can see now that there is only one I could chose and still live with myself. The video cameras aren't going to be too intrusive?"

The Professor shook his head. "You won't even know they're there."

"All right. Do what you have to do."

After the meeting was over, Scott and Logan followed Kate back to her townhouse to install the cameras. Scott would install the camera in the Durango the next day. Brenda came over to watch the excitement and got her first glimpse of Kate's co-workers.

"Man, when you said the math teacher was a hottie, you weren't kidding!" She said, watching Scott stretch his entire frame to measure a wall.

"Down, girl. He's already spoken for and his wife _is_ the jealous type." Kate replied. _Not to mention that she could toss you a thousand yards just by looking at you._

Brenda smiled and snapped her fingers. "The good ones are always taken. What's up with the sunglasses?"

"Eye problems." Kate lied easily. "He gets wicked migraines and the glasses help." She didn't like lying to Brenda but she didn't have a choice.

Not that it really mattered to Brenda, she simply switched her attention to Logan. He had finished installing the camera in the back and had come around to the front to help Scott finish. He stood next to the ladder Scott was on and handed him whatever part he needed.

"What's his story?" Brenda asked, nodding in Logan's direction. "What does he do at the school?"

"P.E. and sports. I know he looks really kinda scary but the kids love him." Kate replied.

"You know, if I could get my boss to pay for and install a home security system for me, I'd be a whole lot more willing to do whatever he wanted me to do. Does your school need an attorney?" Brenda asked.

Kate bit back a smile and shook her head.

"Story of my life." Brenda said with a sigh.

Scott came over to the two women and said "Okay, everything's hooked up. Let me borrow Kate for a few minutes so I can show her around."

"Go right ahead. Don't let me get in the way." Brenda replied.

Kate followed Scott over to her front door.

"There's not much to show," Scott said. "but I didn't want to alarm your neighbor. The camera's are hooked up and running. Remember that I'm installing the camera in your car tomorrow, so try to avoid mud puddles between now and then."

Kate snorted but nodded in response. Scott was such a serious person but lurking just below the surface was a wicked sense of humor that didn't come out that often. "Thank you, Scott. Thank Logan for me too."

"You got it. I'll see you tomorrow."

She waved good-bye to the two men, then chatted with Brenda for a few minutes before locking up and heading to the grocery store. If she didn't stock up on dog food, Midge would never let her back in the house.

*******

The second surprise of Kate's day came between the produce section and the dairy section of the grocery store.

"Kate? Kate Renard?" A familiar voice made Kate turn and look behind her.

"Natalie! Long time, no see! How are you?" Kate said to the tall, elegantly dressed, dark haired woman who walked up to her.

"Fine, fine. Crestwell just isn't the same without you." Natalie Schulumberg, a French teacher and former co-worker of Kate's, said. She cast a critical eye up and down Kate and said "You look good. How have you been?"

"Landed on my feet. I got a new teaching job a couple of days after leaving Crestwell."

"Really?"

"It's a tiny, tiny private school. I'm teaching English and English Composition. I like it. Believe it or not, it pays better than Crestwell."

"It does? Are they hiring?"

Kate shook her head. "No. Sorry."

"Darn." Natalie looked down at her watch and made a face. "Oh, nuts. I had no idea it was so late. I hate to end our conversation before we really started but the kids are waiting."

"I hear ya. Say 'hi' to everyone for me."

"You got it." Natalie turned to leave but something made her pause and turn back. "I knew I'd forget this."

"Forget what?" Kate asked, only half paying attention, her mind on her grocery list again.

"Your favorite student, Dylan Wells. He very nearly got tossed out of Crestwell and Daddy was not happy." Natalie said.

Kate's attention snapped back to Natalie, her groceries forgotten. "What happened?"

"Apparently, he blew out the power grid at the school a couple of weeks ago and was caught by the campus police trying to leave the scene of the crime." Natalie made air quotes around the words 'the scene of the crime'.

"Caught red-handed, huh?" Kate was all ears. Wouldn't it be the height of irony if Cliff Wells, mutant hater, had a mutant for a son?

"Yes and no. Yes, they caught him on campus after the explosion but he swears up and down he didn't have anything to do with the power loss." Natalie leaned in and lowered her voice. "There are rumors, you know, about how or why Dylan would do such a thing but nothing else beyond that." She straightened and looked at her watch again. "Man, I'm really going to be late now. Bye."

Kate watched Natalie leave, then looked down at her shopping list. She would have plenty of time to process this new bit of information while she finished her shopping.

**Chapter Fourteen**

She came out one morning the following week, checked under the Durango, then climbed in and headed off to work. The sullen sky overhead did not look promising and she could only hope and pray that whatever the sky was promising, it would hold off until she got to the mansion. She had already had enough fun driving in the snow to the school and any day she didn't have to drive in it, was a very good day.

Her prayer was answered, to some extent. The first fat drops of a cold rain fell on Kate as she walked up the front steps of the mansion. She made it inside just before the heavens opened up. She looked out a side window and sent up another prayer for the storm to finish before the school ended and not strand her at the mansion overnight, again. The mansion was nice but it wasn't home. That, and she didn't want to impose on Brenda any more than she had to.

She followed her nose down the hallway to the dinning room, a smile on her lips. If nothing else, her new job had excellent benefits. How many other teachers had their breakfast made to order each and every day at their school? She followed not only her nose but her ears as well; the chatter of the students spilling out into the hallway.

She enjoyed her students, really she did. Even the ones who made her life harder than it had to be and they were coming around to her point of view anyway. Her two fighters, from two weeks ago, had been allowed to return to class within the last week and she hadn't had a bit of trouble from them since. Slowly but surely the kids were beginning to accept her. It had only taken two months. It was down right speedy.

A flash of lightening followed by a rumble of thunder echoed overhead. In the brief silence that followed Kate heard Scott say "Remind me never to tick you off. Who was it this time?"

"A co-worker of mine." Kate heard Storm reply. "He doesn't seem to know how to leave well enough alone."

Kate walked into the dinning room just then. "Is Scott giving you a hard time again?" she asked Storm.

"Of course. You would think that his wife would have better control of him." Storm replied, grinning at Jean.

"Don't pull me into this." Jean said, putting down her coffee cup. "He knows better. Good morning, Kate."

"Good morning, Jean, Storm." Kate replied. She put her purse and bag down at an empty place between Scott and Jean and went to get breakfast.

"I am so glad that you feel free to talk about me like I'm not even here." Scott said.

"Did you hear something?" Storm asked Jean.

"I thought I did but I guess not." Jean replied.

Scott looked at Kate for help but she merely shrugged, her hands full. He wasn't about let her off so easily, though. He waited until she was seated and eating before saying "I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too."

Kate started to laugh but choked on her orange juice.

"Scott!" Jean admonished him. "Are you all right, Kate?"

Kate nodded. When her vision cleared, she shot a look at Scott who was sitting there, totally innocent, his lips twitching in an effort to keep from smiling.

"I find the fact that you can quote The Wizard of Oz from memory strangely disturbing but oddly comforting." She replied.

Snickers from students and teachers alike greeted her statement.

"Just don't get him started on Star Wars." Jean told her.

And so began another normal day at The Xavier School.

Unfortunately, breakfast was as normal as it got that day. First, the rain turned to sleet, then snow. Then, there were two fights in each morning class. Only books were thrown though. Kate prayed for sanity and lunch came, with more quotations, from various movies, courtesy of Scott.

After lunch, the insanity returned. The older students amusing themselves by tossing books into the air without touching them. Kate was close to the breaking point when the coup d'grace was delivered.

The power went out. The lights flickered once, twice, then went out and stayed out. A mix of groans and cheers could be heard up and down the hallway. And Kate could have sworn she heard Storm say "I didn't do it."

"Don't anyone move." Kate told her students. She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out the flashlight that was kept there. She clicked on the light and swung the beam around the room. All she needed was some joker to think that now was the perfect time to pull something.

_I should've stayed in bed._ She thought. _How am I ever going to get home in this?_

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jon Alderyce, whose power was manipulation of fire, flick open a lighter and move the flame from the lighter to his hand. The flame cast a soft glow around himself and the students near him.

"Jon, you set anything on fire and I will not be held responsible for what I might do to you." she said.

"Okay." was his reply.

_Now what? I can't teach like this. _

Outside, the wind started to howl and Kate felt like joining in. The students started to talk to each other, the momentary fright of being without lights over, and Kate let them. She balanced the flashlight so that the beam was aimed at the ceiling for maximum illumination and sat down in her chair. Someone would be along soon.

That someone turned out to be Scott. Flashlight in hand, he looked around the room, looked at Kate and said "Okay, guys, class is dismissed. Take your stuff and go to the main living room. And be careful where you're going. Jon, put that out before you set something on fire."

Jon closed his hand over the flame and it disappeared. The students filed out into the hallway, their conversations rising above the wind. Kate collected her purse and briefcase, then put away the flashlight. She followed Scott out into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

"How'd the power go out?" She asked Scott. "I thought the mansion has buried power lines."

"It does." Scott replied. "But a lot of the surrounding area doesn't. A tree limb falls and takes out a transformer and our power goes to. We've got a generator though so, the lights should be back on momentarily."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than the lights did come back on. Cheers from both adults and students alike could be heard from the main living room.

"Am I going to be able to get home tonight?" Kate asked.

"You might but I wouldn't count on it. This storm came out of nowhere and it's getting just plain ugly. In fact, you might want to move your car into the garage. I'll move it for you if you don't want to go outside."

Kate looked at Scott for a moment, then nodded and hand him her keys from her pants pocket. While she knew that Scott wasn't too fond of her, he had to like her some or else he wouldn't have offered to move her car in a messy snowstorm.

After Scott left, Kate dug her cell phone out of her purse and called Brenda. If Brenda wasn't there, if she had been stranded somewhere because of the storm, Kate would call Keith. He was getting along in years and Kate didn't really want to bother him but someone had to feed Midge.

Brenda answered on the third ring. "The county let us go a couple of hours ago and they never, ever do that. When they do, something's up, or down as the case may be. I figured that if you weren't home by the time I got home, you weren't coming. Midge is fast asleep on the couch."

Kate smiled and tried to remain calm. "Thanks, Brenda. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Find out if that hot math teacher of yours has any single brothers." Brenda replied.

"You want their address and phone number if he does?"

"You know it. Bleah, look at that snow coming down. Really, Kate, it's a good thing you didn't try and drive home in this mess. It took me twice as long to get home as it normally does."

"Yeah, I know. I still want to go home."

"I can't help you there. If I could make it stop snowing I would, really. Midge just woke up and is looking at me. She's saying 'feed me'."

"My dog is talking? Put her on."

"Ha, ha. You know what I mean. I have go now and feed your dog. Call if you need anything or just want to talk."

"Okay. Thanks again, Brenda."

"You're welcome."

Kate closed her cell-phone with a snap. Brenda's words coming back to haunt her. 'If I could make it stop snowing I would, really.' If only she knew how close to the truth she was. Storm could make it stop snowing but it would be the height of rudeness to ask. Besides, if she had to be stuck somewhere, why not a big, beautiful mansion?

Because it wasn't home, that's why. Her entire life, Kate had always had to share with everyone else in her family. Share a room, wear hand-me downs, share the family car. But her townhouse was hers and hers alone. She didn't have to share it with anyone, she could go there and be by herself and not have to talk to a single soul.

But not that night. It was enough to make her want to cry.

She sighed and headed for the main living room. She hadn't gone more than a dozen yards when she saw Storm coming in her direction and she had to squish a momentary surge of jealousy. She liked Storm, she really did. She was a pleasure to teach with and fun to be around but every once in a while, the green-eyed monster came out. Storm was everything that Kate wasn't. Tall, beautiful and graceful. Throw in the ability to control the weather and life just wasn't fair. Common sense quickly prevailed but for the half-second that took, Kate wanted to be Storm more than anything else in the world.

"Looking for me?" she asked.

Storm smiled and said "You read my mind. You get someone to feed your dog?"

"Yes. Thank you for asking. I'm going to have to bring Midge here one day so everyone can meet her."

"The children would love that. Come on, the Professor wants everyone in one place as soon as possible just in case the power goes out again."

Kate followed her down the hallway, then asked "Scott offered to move my car and he's not back yet. Is everything all right?"

Storm nodded. "He had to come back in and borrow a few people. The snow had already half-buried it."

Kate nodded then, without thinking, blurted out "Why don't you make it stop snowing?"

Storm stopped in mid-stride and looked at her with that same piercing stare she had used when Kate was being interviewed.

Kate swallowed, heat rushing to her face. Her next words tumbling out in a rush. "I'm sorry, I know I'm being incredibly rude but I can't stand it. You have the power to stop this and you don't. Why not?"

Storm did not answer right away, giving Kate plenty of time to wish that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. When Storm did finally speak, all she said was "Follow me."

She walked over to a pair of wing chairs set in an alcove just down from where they stood. When they were seated, she looked at Kate and said "I know how badly you want to go home and I can pretty well guess how frustrating it must seem to have a possible solution within reach and not use it. But you and I both know that's not how it works."

Kate nodded.

"If I were to end the snowfall, just for you, then where would the requests end? It would always be too hot, too cold, too rainy, too dry. I would be terribly arrogant to make the weather bow to my whims and my whims only. And that's not the way I am. I couldn't live like that. I was given my powers for a reason but not that reason." She smiled and added "Into each life, some rain must fall. Or snow in this case."

"I'm sorry. I apologize for acting like this. I'm just frustrated." Kate replied, feeling about two inches tall.

Storm nodded and said, "I understand being frustrated and I accept your apology. I know you didn't mean what you said. Just watch what you say next time. The next person may not be as understanding."

***********

That night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Kate lay awake in her bed. She hadn't yet accustomed herself to the creaks and groans of the mansion as it settled, so, every little noise grated on her nerves to the point where she gave up trying to sleep. She switched on the bedside lamp and climbed out of bed to go look out the window.

The storm had abated somewhat in the past twelve hours but a fierce wind still whipped around the mansion and the snow continued to fall. At the rate it was falling, there would be another three to six inches of new snow in the morning. She shook her head, happy that her SUV was parked in the mansion's voluminous garage. Digging her car out in the morning was one of her least favorite things to do.

She turned to go back to the warmth of her bed but a noise from outside made her turn back. She pressed her ear against the frigid window but all she got was a cold ear. She looked the window up and down, fought with her curiosity and lost. She took a deep breath, opened the window and stuck her head out. A gust of cold air slapped her in the face, making her gasp. In defiance, she stuck her head a little further and heard...the whine of a jet engine?

_What? A jet engine? Out here? I gotta be hearing things._ Kate pulled her head back, shut and locked the window. Obviously, the wind was carrying sounds from further away than usual. There weren't any jets at the school and there certainly weren't any in the surrounding area. The closest airport was twenty miles to the south.

She shook her head again. If nothing else, the cold had made her sleepy. She climbed back into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

******

The next morning, the snow had stopped and the sun was struggling to come out from behind the clouds. With some luck, she might be able to get home that afternoon but she had to get through the day first. Breakfast that morning was a strange affair. Among the adults, only the Professor, Kurt and Logan were present. Marie (Rogue) and Bobby were also absent and the remaining students were more quiet than normal. Professor Xavier seemed preoccupied and Logan, if it was possible, seemed to be even more grouchy than normal. Only Kurt was his normal, charming self.

_Something nasty must've gone down last night. I bet it had something to do with that jet I heard. I hope no one was hurt._ Kate thought.

Towards the end of breakfast, Rogue and Bobby came in, looking a little 'chewed around the edges', to quote Kate's grandmother. But there was still no sign of the other adults. With half the staff missing, how was school supposed to go on? Kate was a good teacher, but she wasn't that good.

She needn't have worried. She saw Scott seated behind his desk when she walked past on her way to her classroom and then glimpsed Storm and Jean talking to each other across the hallway. Kate caught sight of Jean's face and, for a split second, she could have sworn she saw a look of utter weariness on the other's face but she blinked and the look was gone, if it had ever been there to begin with. She shook her head and went into her classroom. On a whim, she put down her belongings and went next door to speak with Scott. He was at the chalkboard writing down the assignments for the day.

"Scott? Are you all right? You look a little worn down." Kate said.

He turned and looked at Kate. His relationship with her was polite but not what Kate would call friendly. He sifted his weight from one leg to the other and bit his lip. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"You weren't at breakfast this morning so I wondered. I didn't see Jean either or Storm." Kate continued on, certain she was treading somewhere she wasn't supposed to be.

"I was down here, getting ready. I do that sometimes. I think Jean and Storm were here too but I can't swear to it." Scott replied.

Kate nodded and didn't know what to say next. It was weird talking to a person whose eyes she couldn't see. "Okay. I was just wondering. I'll see you at lunch."

"Okay." Scott replied. He turned back to chalkboard and Kate went back to her classroom, no wiser than before.

Her first class was peaceful. Anthony and Brian, her two fighters, were now close to model students. Brian, in fact, made two very intelligent observations on their current novel for which Kate complimented him. It was the start of another normal day at The Xavier School. And yet, it wasn't. An undercurrent of uncertainty rippled through the students and it did not take mutant powers to pick up on it. It was at times like that, that Kate felt like an absolute outsider. Had she been a mutant, the students, some of them of anyway, might have confided in her.

Kate's next class, the 9th and 10th grade started quietly enough but shortly after class began, there was a knock on the classroom door. When she answered the door, she saw Storm and a teenager, maybe 13, standing there, both looking like they'd seen better days.

"Good morning, Ms. Munroe." Kate said, professional to the end.

"Good morning, Ms. Renard. I have a new student for you. His name is Terrance." Storm replied.

Terrance, all 5ft. 2in., scowled. His dark hair and olive colored skin giving him, oddly, a slightly sinister appearance. He was mad at the world and it showed.

_Oh, goody, another ticked-off kid. Just what I need._ Kate thought darkly.

Storm stepped forward and whispered in Kate's ear. "He hasn't shown what his ability is yet, so, be extremely careful."

Kate nodded. _This just gets better and better._

"How old are you Terrance?" she asked him.

"What's it matter?" Terrance muttered.

"It matters because I would like to know where to seat you in the class." Kate told him.

Terrance looked at Storm, he looked at Kate, then he looked at the floor.

"Terrance?" Kate asked, gently. "Do you know how old you are?" He wouldn't be the first of her students not to know.

His head snapped up and he glared at Kate. "Yeah, I know how old I am. I'm NOT a dummy!"

"I never said you were." she replied. Belatedly, Kate realized that she hadn't shut the door behind herself and the entire class was watching.

"What're you lookin' at ?" Terrance snarled at one of the kids.

"Dude, chill. All she wants to know is how old you are." It was Danny speaking, if Kate wasn't mistaken.

Terrance considered that for a moment, then said "I'm 13."

Kate nodded and said "Welcome to the class, Terrance." She stood to the side and let Terrance walk past her. She waved 'good-bye' to Storm and shut the door.

It didn't occur to Kate until sometime after lunch that Terrance's appearance and the jet noises were probably connected.

**Chapter Fifteen**

January rolled into February and the harassment against her seemed to have stopped. But Kate was determined not to relax too much. It was just as Scott said, whoever was harassing her did it only when they had a chance. She hadn't seen anyone around her townhome since that man at Christmas Eve. And yet, she wasn't going to totally let down her guard. Every time she did, she regretted it.

One morning, in early February, she came out and found a note tucked under her windshield wipers. She sighed and pulled the note free. At least, whoever it was, had had to clean off the windshield to put the note there and that saved her the chore. She didn't even bother to read it. It couldn't be good nor could it be from anyone she would want to hear from. She stuffed it in her purse, brushed the rest of the snow from her SUV and headed off to work.

It wasn't until she was at the faculty meeting that afternoon that she remembered the note. Her hand brushed past it when she reached in her purse for a pen. She sighed, pulled it out and unfolded it.

'_I know what you are._' The neatly-typed note said. She rolled her eyes and was about to stuff the note back into her purse when Storm stopped her.

"What do you have there?" she asked, "A love note?"

"I wish." Kate handed the note over. "It was stuck under my windshield wipers this morning."

Storm read the note and quirked an eyebrow. "'I know what you are'? That's not terribly original and besides what does he, or she, mean by that?"

"I have no idea. If whoever it is thinks I'm a mutant, they obviously haven't been paying enough attention to me. If they mean they know I'm a school teacher, then so what? It's just weird. You think I should show Scott or the Professor?"

"Show me what?" Scott said, walking up to the two women. He took a seat next to Storm and looked at Kate.

Storm handed the note to Scott without a word. He looked over the note, looked at Kate, then looked at the note again.

"Okay. When did this show up?" he asked.

"This morning, on my windshield." Kate replied.

"Well, if they're trying to scare you, I don't think they succeeded, did they?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"All I can suggest right now is that after the faculty meeting, we can go look at the videotapes from your security cameras." he said.

"Fine by me." she replied.

He handed the note back to Kate. "Don't worry, we'll get this solved."

"I won't. Thanks."

Scott usually gave blessedly short faculty meetings for which Kate was always thankful. After a day of riding herd on all kinds of teenagers, the last thing she wanted to do was sit through a long meeting. That day was no exception.

"Guess what guys, the auto show has just arrived in New York. It's time for a field trip." Scott said.

It was, quite possibly, the most animated that Kate had ever seen Scott.

"Ya know that New York City is..." Logan said, pausing in mid-sentence. "...dang cold in February."

"I do." Scott replied.

"Just how do you suggest that we keep up wit' all of the kids? There're only 5 of us." Logan continued.

Kate let her mind wander off and try to solve the same problem that Logan had just pointed out. Thirty-five students and four, possibly five, adults as chaperones. She frowned for a moment. It could be done but it would be a lot of work.

Storm tapped Kate on the shoulder, bringing her back to the present, where everyone was staring at her.

"Sorry." she said "My mind went off on its own."

Scott nodded. "So, Kate, what do you say? You want to come with us to New York City?"

Kate paused a moment. This is what she got for letting her thoughts wander. How would they keep the kids under control? Whatever, it didn't matter. She was one of the teachers and she was going.

"Yes, I'd love to go. It's been a while since I've been to New York City."

*********

When Kate said that she was certified and certifiable during her interview, she had been joking. But when the morning of the field trip dawned, she wasn't so sure.

_I really do need to be committed._ She thought. She peered out the window at the early morning cold and gloom as the bus headed toward New York City. _Who in there right mind takes 35 teenagers in New York City? No, wait, 36 teenagers._

The school's newest student, Teenager 36, a girl of about 15, sat across from Kate and glared out the window. Her name was Stacy and, like the majority of the students, had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. As usual, there was almost no explanation as to where she had come from or how she had gotten to the school. She was just there. Also too, there was the sound of a jet engine last night that Kate usually heard when she spent the night at the school. One of these days, she would learn where the airport was. It had to be close by.

_I wonder what Stacy can do._ Kate mused. _I bet she's a telepath._ Telepathy seemed to be the dominant mutation at the school in Kate's humble opinion.

//What if I am? What's it to you?// A distinctly teenage voice spoke in Kate's head.

Kate eyed Stacy before thinking //For starters, get out of my head. That's rude. Secondly, you're my student and I'm concerned about your welfare.//

Stacy snorted. //I've been told about you. You're not a mutant.//

//Stacy, get out of my head NOW! If you want to talk, we can have a verbal conversation.//

Stacy smiled and mouthed the word 'no'.

Kate sighed and hauled herself to her feet. It was time to find Jean. Having her thoughts read was a new experience for her and she didn't like it. Her other telepathic students hadn't bothered. At least, she didn't think they had. Her life was far too dull to offer them much in the way of entertainment.

Jean was at the very front of the bus, seated directly behind Scott, her nose in a book.

Kate taped her on the shoulder. When she looked up, Kate said "My apologies for bothering you but Stacy has just demonstrated her abilities for me, or should I say, on me."

Jean's eyebrows went up.

"She took great glee in totally ignoring my requests to stay out of my mind."

Jean closed the book and stood up. "Trade places with me."

Kate did and Jean headed back to Kate's seat to deal with Stacy.

"How often do you take the kids on field trips?" Kate asked Scott, after sitting down.

"Depends. Sometimes we take three or four trips a month, sometimes we go four or five months without a trip. Is Jean handling something back there?" Scott asked.

"Yes." She said, then repeated to Scott what she had told Jean.

He shook his head. "Sometimes, it takes a long time for the new students to accept the fact that we're not the enemy."

Jean came back down the aisle with Stacy in tow. She sat Stacy down in the empty seat across the aisle. She looked at Kate and said "Problem solved. You can go back to your seat."

"Thanks." Kate said, standing.

"You're welcome. Us teachers have to stick together." Jean replied, taking her seat again.

Stacy glared at both adults but said nothing. She looked like she wanted to say something but got a _look_ from Jean and kept her comments to herself.

Kate went back to her seat and amused herself by looking out the window.

"What'd Stacy do, Ms. Renard?" Danny asked, coming up to Kate's seat.

She looked around at Danny. "Let's just say that Stacy hasn't yet learned to follow the rules yet."

"Oh." Danny nodded knowingly. "She used her powers when she wasn't supposed to."

Kate bit back the grin that threatened to take over her face and shrugged.

Danny grinned and scuttled back to his friends to give them the gossip. She watched and grinned anyway. It had been a little less than three months since his arrival at The Xavier School and the difference in him was nothing short of astounding. It was at times like this that made Kate even more proud of The Xavier School and her role in it.

She turned back to the window in just in time to catch her first glimpse of The Big Apple in years. She sent a prayer heavenward asking for a peaceful and productive day. It was a wish that would only be partially granted.

*******

"All right, everyone listen up because I am not repeating myself." Scott addressed the students over the bus' P.A. system. "You all know the rules. Even our new students know what's expected of them. So, I don't want to hear 'I didn't know.' because you'd be lying and we'd both know it. Also, the car show is not the only show going on at the Javitt's Center but it is the only one you'll be attending, clear?"

Thirty-five heads nodded in unison. Stacy merely glared.

"One of the other shows is a 'symposium' on The Mutant Registration Act. Can anyone tell me why I'm telling you this?" Scott asked.

"So we don't something dumb to try and show them how wrong they are." Bobby volunteered.

"Exactly. This is neither the time or the place to demonstrate _anything_. So, don't. Understand, Jon?" Scott said, looking directly at the number one troublemaker in Kate's classes.

Under Scott's stern gaze, Jon flushed and mumbled "Yes, sir."

"Good. Here's our schedule." Scott read off an itinerary that had them returning to the bus no later than 3 p.m.

The return time made Kate happy. If they really did leave New York City that early, she actually had a chance to get back to her home that evening.

"Any other questions?" Scott asked.

When silence answered the question, he opened the bus' doors and the field trip began.

******

That morning, Kate discovered that there were more cars than she had ever heard of in the first ten feet of the auto show and after the fifth car Scott took them past, her mind refused to process any more automotive information. She hung back, listened with half-an-ear and indulged in a favorite hobby of hers, people watching.

There was no lack of subjects to watch at the car show. Big, short, small, tall, every race, gender, ethnicity and nationality converged under the roof of the Jacob K. Javitts Convention Center. A babble of voices, car noises and the buildings P.A. system combined to produce a cacophony that would surely damage anyone's hearing if they stayed there long enough.

As she walked along, Kate picked up snatches of conversation from everyone she passed, making her wonder if the chorus of voices in the convention center was anything like being a telepath. If so, she had a whole new respect for Jean. She would go nuts if she had to listen to all those voices all the time and all at the same time.

"You just don't want to understand, do you?" a sharp, female voice said just behind Kate.

Curious, Kate angled a glance over her shoulder and spotted two women, both roughly her age, deep in a heated conversation. Scott had stopped the group for a moment, so she could shamelessly eavesdrop and not get separated from the students.

"I don't see what there is to understand. A freak is a freak." The second woman replied and Kate had the sinking feeling that she knew exactly what they were talking about.

"People used to say the same thing about gay people." The first woman said.

"That's different. Gays can't make more gays. Mutants can." The second woman said.

Kate's jaw very nearly dropped open. Were these two women really standing in the middle of a car show talking about mutants so casually?

"You know, I don't even know why I mentioned this to you. I guess I didn't know what you really thought about it until now." The first woman said.

"You can't be that surprised. You know how I feel about _foreigners_." The second woman said.

"But they're not foreigners. Not all of them anyway. If they're born here, they're U.S. citizens, just like you and me." The first woman said.

"No, they're not like you and me and that's the problem." The second woman said.

Kate didn't get a chance to hear the first woman's response because the students moved on and she had to keep up. She hurried to catch up, her ears ringing with the conversation she'd just heard. While she was not naïve enough to believe that the rest of the world believed as she did, she did like to think that most people would use a bit of common sense and discretion when discussing something like mutant rights. She was wrong, obviously.

'_Common sense ain't all that common._' A quote from a teacher friend of hers surfaced in Kate's mind for a moment before disappearing back into her subconsciousness. How true that quote was.

"Nickel for your thoughts?" Storm said to Kate, joining her in the back of the group.

"A nickel?" Kate replied.

"Inflation."

Kate smiled and said "Just people watching."

There was no point in telling Storm about the conversation she'd heard. There wasn't anything that the other woman could do about it. So, why bother?  
"When did you stop paying attention?" Storm asked Kate.

"I'll have you know that I have listened to every word Scott has said." Kate replied with a straight face.

Storm looked at her.

"The fifth or sixth car. You?" Kate asked.

"I've been here so many times that I could give the tour. Not much changes except the color of the cars but the kids love coming, so, does Scott."

"Yes, I noticed that."

Scott truly did look like a kid in a candy store. The same could not be said for Jean or Logan for that matter.

"I don't think that Logan is paying too much attention to the tour." Kate said.

"Don't be so sure. He's a very hard person to read." Storm replied.

Kate snuck a look at Logan and studied him for a moment. Storm was absolutely right. She had no idea what Logan was thinking at that moment. He looked like he didn't seem to care one way or another about the show going on around him. Was that all an act? A bit of gossip she had heard about Logan popped into her head while she looked at him. Supposedly, he had giant, metal claws embedded into his hands. The claws came out whenever he made a fist. The mental image was more than to satisfy her curiosity and she looked away.

"I've got a stupid question to ask." Kate said to Storm.

"And?" Storm replied, teasing her.

"Ha, ha. You're not funny. Seriously, is there an airport near the mansion?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Just about every time I stay at the mansion, I hear the sound of a jet engine and it's not a far-away sound either. It sounds like a jet either taking off or landing and it's very close by. I know I'm not hearing things. I was just wondering."  
Storm considered Kate's question for a long moment, then said "You know, sounds can travel longer distances than we normally think of, especially in clear air and at night. That's when you've heard the noises, at night, right?"

Kate nodded.

"Thought so. The atmosphere around the mansion is so clear at night, that, without cloud cover, you can pick up A.M. radio stations from as far away as Youngstown, Ohio."

"Really?"  
Storm nodded. "I've done it. Well, I've done it with Jean and the kids as part of a science lesson that demonstrated how far radios waves travel. If it works for the radio, why not other sounds?"

"I guess." Kate said, slowly. She missed the look of concern that flitted across Storm's face. She missed it because Scott called her name and she directed her attention to him.

"If I may interrupt your train of thought, Ms. Renard?" he asked.

"Go right ahead, Mr. Summers." she replied.

"What kind of car are we standing in front of?"

She looked at the tiny car and the first thought to pop into her head was of a toddler's push car. She was quite certain that that wasn't what Scott was looking for but, tough, that's what he got for picking on her unannounced.

She opened her mouth to respond but, suddenly, she wasn't in quite the same spot she had been just seconds before. She blinked and looked around her. With the exception of Scott, who had his back to her now, everyone else in the group acted like nothing had happened. But something had, she just didn't know what. It occurred to her right then, that while she knew what the majority of her students and most of the adults could do, she had only the vaguest ideas of what Scott's mutation was. All she really knew was that it, the mutation, was controlled by those glasses he always wore.

"All right, guys. Time for lunch. You know what to do." Jean told the children. "You have one hour. Don't make me come looking for you."

A general nod swept through the children before they scattered. Kate watched them be swallowed up by the crowd before turning her attention back to the adults. Scott was facing her again, glasses firmly in place, his face completely unreadable, as usual.

She filed the bit of weirdness in the back of her mind before asking "So, what do we do for lunch?"

*******

After lunch is when the real learning began. The students were broken up into five groups with one teacher per group. The assignment was to look at the car show through the prisms of each subject taught at the school. Scott, Jean and Storm had a far easier task than Kate or Logan but Kate persevered and had each of her students pick a car, within their line of vision, and explain why they picked that car.

"This assignment is supposed to strengthen your persuasive writing skills. I do not care which car you pick or why you picked that car but I had better not see 'because it's cool' as a reason on your paper. Understand?" Kate asked the students.

Heads nodded and the assignment began.

She watched in absolute fascination as her students, the younger ones in particular, really get into and enjoy the assignment. They made notes, they asked their classmates questions, they took their time, in short, they did everything they had been taught to do.

_Hallelujah. At least something sank in._ she thought.

She kept one eye on her watch and the other on the kids, just in case one of them forgot the rules. As such, she did not see a man come up behind her.

"Just who do you think you are? Letting these freaks out in public?" He hissed in her ear.

Kate started at the sudden noise then turned around and looked at the man. He was tall and dressed in a business suit. He looked to be in his late 40's, possibly early 50's with graying hair. But it was his eyes that got Kate's attention. His eyes glittered with...she wasn't sure what but whatever it was, she wanted no part of it.

She took a step back and cast a glance around the general area. There were no kids within hearing range, which was good. But there were no adults to help out either, which was bad.

"Didn't you hear me?" the man snarled at her.

Kate took another step back and said "Are you talking to me?"  
"Who else would I be talking to? I don't see anyone else hanging around these freak children."

"Excuse me?" Kate asked. Belatedly, it occurred to her that she should have just turned and walked away.

"You know what I'm talking about. These so-called children you've got here." He waved his hand in the general direction of her students. "They're nothing but a bunch of MUTANT FREAKS!" The man said the last part of the sentence loud enough for anyone standing nearby to hear. It worked. People stopped and stared at the man.

Kate was tongue-tied. She just stared at the man, not knowing what to say.

The man took Kate's silence for ignorance and said "Oh, come on, you've got to know who you're with. What are you, some kind of moron? Or are some of these little darlings controlling you?"

That last line snapped Kate back into reality. "Excuse me, sir. I would thank you to keep your opinions to yourself and to stop harassing my students and myself."

The man stared at her. "Students? You mean you're their teacher?" He started to laugh.

Kate turned, signaled for her students to follow her and walked away from the man. It was almost time to meet up with the others. Hopefully, someone else would be at the meeting point first and lend her a hand.

If she had hoped that the man would take the hint and leave her alone, it was a false hope for the man quickly caught up with her and harassed her every step of the way. What concerned Kate the most was, not herself but, her students. They had to listen to the man's rantings and that just wasn't right.

What really amazed Kate was that not a single person offered any help in getting rid of the man. People stared but no one helped.

_Typical New Yorkers. _she thought darkly.

Finally, the meeting place came into view and yes, someone else was there. It was Logan. Kate smiled, salvation was at hand. As the students and Kate neared him, Logan came strolling over to Kate.

The man, incessant in his tirade, stopped abruptly when he saw Logan.

"Is there a problem, Ms. Renard?" Logan asked.

Kate eyed the man, who had turned several shades paler, and said "Well, other than this man who seems to think that the children are 'mutant freaks' who don't belong in public, no problems."

Logan stared down at the man. "That right?"

Kate joined her students at that moment. She didn't need to hear what Logan would say, she already knew. Logan rejoined the group a few minutes later muttering unrepeatable comments about certain kinds of people.

"Thank you." Kate said to him.

*******

It wasn't until everyone was back on the bus and headed back to the school that the identity of her harrasser was revealed.

"Ms. Renard?" It was Danny. He had left his friends in the back of the bus and had come down the aisle to talk to Kate. He didn't look happy.

Kate turned from the window and said "What can I do for you, Danny?"

He fidgeted for a few moments before saying "I'm sorry about that guy today that was bugging you."

Kate smiled at him and said "You don't have to apologize for anything. That man is totally ignorant of what you're really like."

Danny shook his head. "You don't understand. That guy...he's my dad."

It took a moment for Kate to process that tidbit of information.

"Your dad?" she asked.

Danny nodded. He leaned over to Kate as far as he could and said "He's the reason I'm here."

Thinking back on the man's behavior, Kate wasn't at all surprised.

"Anyway, I just wanted you to know that and I'm sorry. It was a dumb idea." He turned and went back to his seat.

_Dumb idea? What was a dumb idea?_ "Danny, wait a minute." Kate called after him. She stood up and started to go after him.

"Kate, sit down." Scott told her. "We're in heavy traffic."

She did as she was told but spent the rest of the time trying to get Danny's attention so she could get a better explanation.

She didn't succeed.

She knew that a lot of the kids had been abused both physically and mentally, before arriving at the mansion. She had seen the bruises, the casts on broken arms and legs and that was the damage that could be seen. Verbal or mental abuse did not leave physical marks behind but the damage was much worse and took far longer to heal, if it ever did.

She wondered now about Danny's relationship with his father. Had it been simply verbal abuse or had his father beaten him as well? No wonder he had been so angry when he had arrived at the school. She tried one last time to get Danny's attention just after the bus reached the school but he disappeared with his friends before she could stop him.

She headed to her SUV, frustrated and annoyed. She wanted to help Danny as much as she could but there was little she could do if he didn't let her.

Tomorrow was another day and perhaps a solution would reveal itself then. She put the Durango in gear and headed for home, her refuge from the world.


	3. Part 3, Chs 16 through 25

**Chapter Sixteen**

Not quite two weeks after the car show field trip, Kate was, once again, witness to the after-effects of the abuse her students had suffered before coming to the school. Somewhere between Act III, Scene II of Romeo and Juliet and Act III, Scene II of Julius Caesar, class went South and she had no idea why. That lack of knowledge was the most frustrating part. Was it something she said? Was it some other kind of sound? A phrase? A movement of some kind? She had no idea and, therefore, had no way to keep something similar from happening again.

Class had started normally enough. The Ninth Grade was working through Romeo and Juliet and the Tenth Grade was working on Julius Caesar. Kate circulated through the students, answering questions and keeping them on task. For most that wandered off task, a gentle touch on the arm was all that was needed. But for the others, especially the new arrivals, something different was needed and sometimes, Kate forgot who needed what.

Chad Rivers, 15, at the school only a week, sat in his chair, staring out the windows that lined the room. He had yet to turn the pages of his book. The other kids sitting near him looked up as Kate approached but then looked back down at their books.

"Chad?" Kate said, touching him on the arm. "You've only got five minutes left before we start discussing."

He shank from her touch and said "Don't touch me. I'm reading as fast as I can."

"All right, I didn't mean to upset you but you do need to finish up."  
He scowled but nodded and Kate moved on.

Five minutes later, Kate called the reading to a halt and brought the students attention back on her. But Chad wasn't ready and his fidgeting was driving his classmates to distraction.

"Dude, go sit somewhere else, you're driving me nuts." Anthony said to him.

Chad looked like he had just been slapped. The color drained from his face and the whole class held their breath as they waited for an explosion.

It came but not in the way anyone expected. One by one, the windows in the classroom exploded, showering the classroom and the ground below with broken glass. The sound was deafening. The students scattered and Chad jumped out the closest window. Or he tried to. He was stopped by another student, a ninth grade telekine named Angel. She kept him from falling eighteen feet to the frozen ground below.

"Let me go." He snarled at her.

"Don't tempt me." She snapped back. But as she was still learning to control her ability, the more Chad fought her, the harder it was for her to keep her grip on him.

Kate took matters into her own hands and stepped behind Chad. It was none too soon. Angel lost her grip on Chad just then. Kate grabbed him and the two tumbled to the floor.

"Let me go!" he howled.

Kate did not reply. She was focused on keeping him from committing suicide.

The classroom door flew open and Scott and Jean came running in. Jean froze Chad in place, while Scott herded the kids from the room.

"You can let go now, I've got him." Jean said to Kate, kneeling down next to her.

Kate worked her fingers free and inched away from Chad. She got to her feet, stumbled and sat down hard. Her ears were ringing and it was only then that she noticed just how bitterly cold it was in the room.

_Not having windows will do that._ A little voice in her head said.

"Let me go!" Chad howled. He struggled against Jean's hold on him but Jean was not a fourteen year old just learning about her power, she was an extremely powerfully telekine and Chad was not going anywhere until Jean let him.

She took Chad's face in her hands and said "Chad, relax. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yes, you are! Everyone does!"

"Chad, listen to my voice, listen to me. I am not going to hurt you."

Chad whimpered and tried to turn his head away from Jean. She responded by lowering her voice so that only Chad could hear her.

Kate watched and wondered how often such breakdowns happened. Her arm started to burn and when she looked down, she saw a jagged cut across the fleshy part of it.

_Oh, hell. I must've landed on some glass when I grabbed Chad._

Scott came up behind her and put a hand under her elbow. "Come on, you need to get out of here." he said to her.

She let him lead her from the room but asked "What about Jean?"

"She'll be fine. You, on the other hand, need your arm looked at it, if nothing else." Scott said. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around her arm.

"But you really shouldn't leave..." Kate started to say.

"I'm not going to. Kurt will take you down."

She nodded and was only slightly surprised to have Kurt appear out of nowhere. He offered his arm to her and she took it.

Scott looked at Kurt, who nodded and disappeared with Kate.

Watching Kurt teleport was one thing, being teleported with him was quite another. One minute, she was standing in the hallway, the next, she was in front of The Med-Lab. Her head was spinning and her stomach had flipped over. She held onto Kurt's arm until the feeling passed.

"Enschuldigung, _Sorry_ I try to remember to warn people but I don't always do." Kurt said.

Kate nodded.

They walked into The Med-Lab and Kurt called out "Dr. McCoy?"

"I'll be there in a minute." A male voice called out from a store room.

Kurt waited with Kate until Dr. McCoy came out of the storeroom before leaving her.

"Guten abend, Doktor McCoy." Kurt said to him.

"Guten abend, Herr Wagner. You must remember to call me Hank. I see you brought someone with you." Dr. McCoy said.

"That is correct." Kurt said.

He filled 'Hank' in on what had gone on upstairs, giving Kate a few moments to study Dr. McCoy. He had to be the most unassuming man she had ever seen. Average height, average weight, average build, dark brown hair, green eyes. He was so normal looking that Kate couldn't be sure that he had a mutation. She certainly wasn't going to ask.

She recognized him, though she didn't know why. She had never met him but, somehow, she knew him. The longer he talked to Kurt, the more the feeling of recognition grew until it dawned on her. It was his voice she recognized. She had heard it before and not at the school.

"Thank you, Kurt. You can go unless Ms. Renard wants you to stay." Dr. McCoy said He looked at Kate and said "May I call you, Kate?"

"You were on TV." Kate blurted out, her memory coming to life.

Dr. McCoy looked at her, faintly amused.

She flushed and said "That wasn't supposed to come out." She looked at Kurt and said "You don't have to stay. Dankeschein."

Kurt grinned as he always did when Kate used what little German she knew. "You're welcome." He said, then disappeared.

Just watching him leave made Kate's stomach roll over again. Dr. McCoy took her by the arm and guided her over to an exam table. She blinked, looked down and saw that he was already cleaning her arm.

"Thank you." she said. "And, yes, you can call me Kate."

"All right. Please call me Hank and yes, I was on TV. Now, Kurt told me the majority of what happened but how, exactly, did you cut your arm?"

"I kept a student from leaping through a broken window." Kate replied.

"Ah, that explains why the cut isn't any deeper." He wrapped her arm in a bandage then surveyed his handiwork. "You will not be in need of stitches, be happy."

"I am." she replied.

Surprisingly, even after rolling around on the floor with Chad, the gash on her arm was all that needed to be fixed. Hank checked her for shock as well, then released her to return upstairs. He walked her to the elevator and said, in response to her unanswered question, "My mutation is a bit difficult to describe."

Kate held up her hands and said "I wasn't going to ask, that would be rude."

A smile lurked in the corners of Hank's face. "Thank you." he said.

When Kate arrived back at her classroom, she found a note tacked on the door that said:

'Ms. Renard's remaining classes will meet in the downstairs library.

Tardiness will not be accepted.

Professor Xavier'

_Okay, so which room is the downstairs library? _Kate thought. She looked down at her watch and discovered she had almost a half-an-hour to kill before lunch. She wasn't used to having free time during the day. She'd have to use it wisely. Where was the closest TV set?

*********

Chad wasn't at lunch and Professor Xavier was there only long enough to eat the main course before leaving again. Jean came in shortly after the Professor left and Kate assumed that she had waited for Professor Xavier to return to where ever she had been. She filled her plate and sat down between Scott and Kate. She didn't look happy and Kate didn't ask.

"Chad is sorry for this morning." she said, at length.

Kate looked up from her plate and met Jean's troubled gaze.

"He wanted you to know. He...lost control."

Kate nodded slowly. There was still so much she had to learn about her students and their problems. "Tell him, apology accepted. When am I going to see him class again?"

"Soon. He's working some things out right now." Jean replied.

As if on cue, the lights in dinning room flickered for a moment.

"You know that all of the children get an extensive mental as well as physical evaluation when they arrive here." Jean said, ignoring the flickering lights. "But nothing on the scale of this morning appeared with Chad. Apparently, he was in deeper denial than even he realized."

Kate nodded again.

"Do you know which downstairs library to go to?" Jean asked her.

"No but I'll find it. I only get temporarily lost." Kate replied.

Scott coughed and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

Jean looked at him for a moment, then looked back at Kate. "Okay. How are you doing? I've been so caught up with Chad, I hadn't even asked."

"I'll be fine." Kate held out her arm for inspection. "Hank was very accommodating. Is he here often?"

"Not nearly as often as he would like." Jean replied. She looked Kate's arm over and nodded her approval. "You know, as corny as this may sound, I'm always here to talk, you know where my office is."

Kate nodded and smiled and wondered, not for the first time, what she had gotten herself into.

*********

That evening, Kate arrived home still disturbed by what she had witnessed at school that day. She needed someone to talk to and there was only one person who fit the bill.

Gordon. She dialed his number before she even took off her coat.

He arrived just after she finished feeding Midge. He took one look at the bandage on her arm, then the look on her face and wondered, again, what he had done by suggesting she work at the school.

"You got here pretty quickly." She said, leading him into the living room.

"I was in the car when you called." he replied. He sat down in a recliner while Kate settled onto the loveseat next to him.

"I didn't pull you away from anything, did I?" she asked.

"No, I gave you my number for this specific reason. Now, what happened?"

She told him the events of that morning and ended with "It happened so fast, I never saw it coming."

He frowned and took her hand in his to better see her arm. She smiled. Just his touch made her feel better.

"And this happened when you landed on the floor with Chad?" he asked.

She nodded. "With all that broken glass, it's a wonder I didn't cut myself worse." She swallowed and looked at the floor for a moment. "I almost witnessed a teenager throw himself out a window because of ... I don't know. That scared me, I mean really scared me." She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. "I have no idea why he did what he did or if he'll ever do it again. And yet, while rolling around on the floor with him, all I could think of was what kind of Hell has he been through that would make him act that way."

Gordon nodded.

"I mean, I know...I understand why child abuse happens. I don't condone it, I never will but I know why it happens. You're tired and the baby won't stop screaming no matter what you do...but Chad's not a baby. He's a young man. A young man that very nearly leapt to his death today. What brought him to that point? What would have happened to him had I or the class not been there? Will he try again?"

Gordon did not answer right away. When he did, he said "I wish I had the answers to your questions but I don't. Chad, unfortunately, is not uncommon among mutant children or mutants in general. He is the reason that Professor Xavier created the school. The Professor knew he couldn't save every mutant child out there but he could save as many as he could find." He leaned in close to Kate. "I am so sorry about what happened today. I wish you hadn't seen what you did but you have to believe that you're doing some good there, otherwise, why bother to get up and go there every morning?" He let go of her hand and stood up.

"Have you eaten?" he asked her.

Kate shook her head. "I called you before doing anything else."

He looked at the kitchen, then back at her. "Do you mind?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Not at all. What do you have in mind?"

"Believe it or not but I make a mean pot of chili." He replied.

Intrigued, Kate got up and went to stand at the breakfast bar that looked over into the kitchen. She watched him disappear into her pantry, only to reappear a few moments later with a bag of tortillas and two cans of Sloppy Joe mix.

"Your pantry is sadly under stocked." He said to her.

"It's not like I have a whole lot of people to cook for." Kate said, in self-defense.

Gordon shook his head and started to rummage through the refrigerator. The rummaging turned up a pound of ground beef, a bag of shredded cheese and a dozen eggs.

"At least you're not going to starve." he commented. "Yet." He went back to the refrigerator to look for fresh vegetables. Finding none, he shut the refrigerator door and looked at her. "Didn't your parents ever tell you that you need to eat vegetables?"

"Didn't your parents tell you that it's rude to comment on someone else's eating habits?" she responded.

He considered that for a moment, then shook his head. "Must have missed that lesson."

"I eat just fine thank you. There's this wonderful little thing known as take-out. Besides, why do I need to cook? Have you eaten at the school lately?"

"Okay, you've got a point there. Now, stand back and watch the magic happen." He took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves and went to work.

She watched, fascinated. She didn't know a whole lot of men who could cook. She didn't know a whole lot of men, period.

"I know I've said this a few dozen times but I'll say it as many times as I have to." Gordon said. "Thank you for taking the leap of faith and taking the job at the school." He turned on the stove, dumped the ground beef into a skillet and set it on the burner.

"My family is one of the 'older' families in this area. We're not one of the founding families by any means but we've been here a long time." He said, stirring the beef. The scent of cooking meat drifted across the small kitchen and made Kate's mouth water. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until that very moment.

"How long?" she asked, wondering why Gordon was talking about his family's history.

"Long enough so that mutants wouldn't come from such a fine, well-established, upstanding family." He stirred the beef a while longer, making sure all of it was cooked thoroughly. When the beef was cooked to his satisfaction, he drained it, then mixed in the can of Sloppy Joe mix. "Have you met Warren yet?"

She nodded. "I think so. Blond, charming, big, fluffy white wings?"

He nodded. "That's Warren all right. Plates?"

She came into the kitchen, opened a cabinet next to the sink, took out two plates and set them on the counter next to Gordon.

"Now, I can dump this onto the tortillas or we can use them as ladles."

"Ladles."

He poured the Sloppy Joes onto the two plates then set the skillet into the sink and turned off the stove.

"Would you like some cheese?"

She nodded.

While Gordon finished the dinner, she set the table for dinner in her, not very often used, dinning room. It felt a bit weird to have an actual sit down dinner in it. She usually ate in front of her TV set. But it was nice, it was...homey.

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked.

"I'll have some water." he replied. He passed her on the way to the table with the plates as she went into the kitchen for the drinks. She joined him a few moments later and he opened the pack of tortillas and set the pack between them.

They ate in companionable silence and, all too soon, the Sloppy Joes were gone.

"You, Gordon Chambers, never fail to amaze me." Kate said, laying down her napkin.

"Thank you but what you saw was survival at work. I had to learn to cook if I was going to live on my own."

"And you needed to live on your own because if you stayed with your family, you would have to suppress your mutation." Kate said.

"Something like that." He stood and took the plates into the kitchen.

She followed. "I've got a dishwasher." she said, watching him move the skillet out of the way in order to wash their dishes.

"That's all right. I'd rather do it myself." He replied, not meeting her eyes.

She hesitated for just a moment, then came into the kitchen, reached across him and turned off the water. "I think this all started off as a way to make me feel better and I do, so, thank you. But I have no idea where this has gone. Could you please clue me in?"

He sighed, looked up at her and said "Let's go back out into the living room. We'll be more comfortable there."

Out in the living room, Gordon settled back into the recliner he had been in and Kate resumed her position on the love seat. Midge came over and sniffed Gordon's hand. Gordon bent over, picked her up and settled her in his lap. He scratched her head for a long moment before saying anything.

"My whole point in all of this is to try and show you why you're needed at the school. I just haven't done a very good job. Let me try again."

Kate nodded.

"Let me start by saying that despite everything you might hear me say, my family is not completely heartless."

"Is that why you asked me if I had met Warren? Because his family acted like yours did...does?"

He shrugged. "Yes and no. Warren and I are among the handful of 'alumni' that have parents that actually, half-way care about us, even if they have very strange ways of showing it. The majority of the kids at the school don't even have that and you've got to take that in to account when dealing with them."

Kate frowned. "You're not telling me anything I don't already know."

"Okay, look at it this way. While the kids do come to the school with all kinds of ugly problems, once they're at the school, they are safe."

Kate nodded.

"And what happens when an average child gets upset or frustrated?"

"They lash out at someone safe." she replied.

"There you are. Congratulations, you've been at the school long enough to be considered safe."

She took that in, then said "If that was Chad's reaction because he thought I was safe, I shudder to think what he would have done if I was a total stranger."

"He probably would have put you out the window too."

She suppressed a shudder. "I just wonder if I'm doing any good. It's like two steps forward, one step back."

"Wouldn't you run into that in any school you'd work at?" Gordon asked.

"I guess. But it's a little different here. I wouldn't have to worry about being thrown out the window, without being in arm's reach, at another school."

"But then you'd have a whole other set of problems to deal with. Look, I can't tell you to keep a job that scares you and makes you fear for your safety but I can tell you that every day you show up and teach, that's another day those kids realize that not all non-mutants are bad and that lesson is priceless."

The clock in the hallway went off, signaling the hour. Gordon looked down at his watch, then up at Kate. He put a protesting Midge on the floor and stood up.

"As much as I hate to eat and run, I have to go. I have to be at work much earlier than normal tomorrow."

Kate stood and showed him to the door. "Don't forget your coat."

"Got it."

"Thank you for dinner. That was very nice of you."

Gordon smiled, leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "You're welcome. Whatever I can do to make your life easier, I am happy to do it. You really are needed there."

She smiled and nodded. "I know. Can I help it if I get a bit freaked out though?"

"That's all right. Just as long as you don't let it keep you from going to work." He replied, then he was gone, out the door and on the way to his car.

Kate shut the door. Her hand went to her cheek for a moment before she went back into to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. As usual, Gordon had given her plenty to think about.

**Chapter Seventeen**

Kate did not see Chad until the end of that week and then it was only a brief appearance at the start of the school day. He came in, apologized, collected his assignments and left. She could not know that the end of the problems with Chad were only the calm before a major emotional storm for herself.

She was deep into a selection of short stories with the 7th and 8th graders when an alarm started to sound. Thinking it was a fire alarm, Kate closed her book and had started to tell her students what to do, when Marie, Rogue, appeared in the doorway. It was her first inkling that this would not be an ordinary fire drill.

"C'mon guys," Rogue said, "just like we've done before. You too, Ms. Renard. Just follow the kids."

Mystified, Kate did as she was told. She followed a group of students to where Rogue was standing, next to what could only be, charitably, called a hole in the wall where the wood paneling had been pushed up and out of the way. Rogue quickly herded the students into the hole, helped Kate crawl in, then crawled in after her, pulling the paneling back into place.

As they crouched in the semi-darkness, Rogue leaned over and whispered in Kate's ear. "If we don't hear the 'all-clear' sign in five minutes, we have to leave the mansion. Just follow me."

Kate nodded. A thousand thoughts whipped through her head but she couldn't grasp onto any of them. All she could grasp was the stark terror and fear coursing through her entire body right then.

"Rogue?" One of the younger kids whispered.

"Shush." Rogue said, not unkindly.

The minutes ticked by until another horn blew three short blasts, which, apparently, was the 'all-clear' sign. The paneling slid back up and Logan was standing there, waiting for them. After helping all of the children and Kate climb out, he gave them all a once over, then hugged Rogue.

"You did good, kid. Less than two minutes." he said.

Rogue smiled and said "Thanks. What's up with the drill?"

"No drill. The alarm was tripped." Logan told her. He looked around at the students and at Kate. "We'll talk later. Back to class."

Kate stared at Logan. Was he serious?! Apparently so, because the students started to walk back to the classrooms, acting like nothing had happened. Too bad that Kate did not share her student's nonchalance. She was shaken to her very core but she couldn't show it. To do so would completely undermine her authority in the classroom. If she started to panic, what would her students think?

She toughed it out, went back to work and, by the beginning of her last class, was almost back to her normal self.

"I heard you did real good this morning when the alarm went off." Bobby said to Kate when he came into the classroom.

"Real well." Kate said, correcting him. "And thank you. If you don't mind me asking, why were we hiding in the walls? Surely a place this massive doesn't have to worry about thugs breaking in and terrorizing the students?"

Bobby chewed on his lip for a moment, then looked around the classroom, as if to make sure no one else was listening. He looked back at Kate, lowered his voice and said "That's exactly it. We've had problems in the past. The alarm just gives us a heads up so we can hide." He looked away from Kate.

"Problems?" she asked, faintly.

"Because of what we are, some nut job got it into his head to...." Bobby did not finish his sentence because Kate waved her hand and made him stop.

"I get the picture." she said, shaken to her core for the second time that day. Her mind was having a very hard time wrapping itself around the idea of adults attacking a school full of children.

"Ms. Renard?" Bobby asked, concern coloring his words. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Kate closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath mentally, then opened her eyes, seeing Bobby in a whole new light. She smiled and said "I'll be fine. Thank you for telling me."

He nodded and went to his seat next to Rogue.

Once again, Kate could not allow herself to react to Bobby's words. She didn't have the time or the privacy. She toughed it out with class ending none too soon. When the last student was gone, Kate made the decision to go home early and leave her paperwork for the next day. There had been enough ugly surprises and she didn't need the weather dumping another one on her.

She turned, reached into the closet, behind her desk, for her coat and dissolved into tears. Bobby's words had been the last straw. All the stress and worry and shock she had been holding inside came rushing out. She sank to the closet floor and cried uncontrollably.

*********

"Dr. Grey?"

Jean looked up from the stack of papers in front of her and said "Yes, Nelson?"

"Ms. Renard's crying. I don't know where but I can feel it." Nelson replied. "It feels weird." he added. A budding empath, he was still grappling with the different sensations his ability brought him.

"All right. Thank you for telling me. I'll see if I can't find her and see what's wrong." Jean told him. She left the papers on the desk and went out into the hallway with Nelson.

"I hope she doesn't leave." Nelson said. "I like her. She makes class fun."

Jean couldn't help but smile. "I'll make sure to tell her that."

It didn't take Jean long to find Kate. There weren't that many places to hide. After checking Kate's car, she had come back in and headed for Kate's classroom. Once there, all she had to do was follow the sound of the sobs to the closet.

"Kate? What's wrong?" Jean asked, opening the closet door wider.

Kate looked up at Jean, tears streaming down her face, and started to babble

"Jean...I started and I couldn't stop...Bobby told me what happened....No wonder Scott hates me....after what happened....that's terrible....why would anyone do such a thing?.....Now I know why everyone keeps staring at me...I'm so ashamed...."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong." Jean said, sitting down on the floor next to Kate.

Kate took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes, then told Jean how just reaching for her coat made her disolve into sobs. Her eyes started to fill again as she spoke. "I can't believe that someone would attack a group of children. That...that...just chills my soul."

Jean looked at the box of tissue sitting on the desk and slid it down to where they were. She pulled a few tissues out and handed them to Kate. "Wipe your eyes again. Then, we can talk in the kitchen over some tea and give you some time to calm down, away from the children."

Kate mopped at her face with the tissue and offered a Jean a watery smile in way of thanks.

*******

Fifteen minutes later, the two women sat at the kitchen table with mugs of tea in front of them. Kate wrapped her hands around hers and savored the warmth.

"I know, I know, coffee would have more of a kick but tea seems to be more soothing." Jean said to Kate.

"How did you know I was crying?" Kate asked, aware that Jean was a telekenetic and a telepath but was unaware of how powerful Jean truly was.

"One of your empathic students came and told me." Jean replied. "He likes you and doesn't want you to get scared and leave."

Kate nodded and concentrated on drinking her tea. "The children were so calm." she finally said. "My God, Marie had to tell _me_ what to do. It was...unnerving."

Jean nodded but said nothing. Kate would tell her in good time.

"After the drill was done and we climbed out, Logan was standing there, waiting to tell the children what a good job they had done. I asked what the problem had been and he said that a perimeter alarm had been tripped but that was all he said."

Another nod from Jean.

"I asked around later and Bobby said the school had been attacked before by...how did he put it?...By people who didn't like mutants." Kate said, she paused and a slight smile came to her lips. "I'm assuming that was an understatement."

In spite of the serious nature of the talk, Jean smiled. "Did he tell you anything else?" she asked.

Kate shook her head and said "Frankly, I'd rather not know. There really is such a thing as Too Much Information."

A shadow passed over Jean's face but she said nothing.

"It's unbelievable but to the deranged mind, I guess, it would make sense to 'get' them when they were young, so 'they' couldn't make more." Kate said

"The only problem with that line of reasoning, if you want to call it that, is that the gene that causes mutants skips around." Jean finally spoke. "It's almost like the gene that causes red hair." A wry smile crossed her lips. "And you could no more rid the world of red heads then you could of mutants. Doesn't stop people from trying, though."

Kate shook her head.

"But people like you, Kate, you give us hope. Through out history, there have always been people who stand up for what's right, no matter the cost." Jean continued.

"My mother will be thrilled. Her daughter, the mutant rights activist." Kate said into her mug.

"At least your mother accepts you for what you are or I hope she does, not all of us are as fortunate." Jean replied, with just a trace of bitterness.

Kate, sensing that she was straying into painful territory for Jean, took the conversation in another direction.

"When do signs of a mutancy begin to appear?"

"Around puberty. Why do you ask?"

"I have a bunch of nieces and nephews but the oldest is only nine. If any of them turn out to be a mutant, I want them to go here. They'll have enough problems without having things being made harder for them at school."

Jean smiled and said "Do you have any pictures?"

That bought a real smile to Kate's face. "Of course, I do."

The next few minutes were spent oohing and aaahhing over Kate's pictures.

"They're adorable." Jean said.

"Of course." Kate said, with a big smile. "And they think Aunt Kate is cool."

Jean laughed.

"Um...not to get too personal but what about you and Scott? What happens if, when, you have children? Will they be mutants?" Kate asked.

Jean half-smiled, stood and collected the mugs.

"I'm sorry," Kate said, misreading Jean's movements. "I didn't mean to be rude."

Jean returned to the table with the mugs full.

"You weren't being rude. We've given it a lot of thought and while there is an almost 100 percent chance that our child will be a mutant of some kind, we just don't know. There is simply not enough information to study. We've only just discovered that men carry the mutancy gene. Does that mean that our children will have Scott's mutation or mine? I have no idea. Would you like something to munch on? With teenagers in the house there is always something to eat around here."

Lunch having been a very long time ago, Kate nodded and watched as Jean went in search of munchies. She found some Oreos in a cabinet above the sink.

In some ways, Kate envied Jean. Smart, beautiful, compassionate and married to a drop-dead gorgeous man. What more could a woman want? Then again, Kate was quite happy to be an ordinary human with no mutant abilities whatsoever.

"I have to admit," Kate confessed a few moments later. "I know next to nothing about mutants or mutations but from what I've seen so far, I don't see what the problem is."

"From your mouth to the government's ear." Jean responded drily. She set a plate of Oreos on the table between the two of them. "Don't feel bad, most people don't. There are four major categories of mutations: sensories, elementals, transmuters, and psionics. Some people feel more categories are needed, that the mutations are simply too broad to be classified so simply and I happen to agree. More categories might be necessary as more mutants appear. For example, both Scott and Kurt fall into the transmutation category, but Scott is an energy converter and Kurt is a teleporter. Extremely different mutations, but they are classified together."

Kate nodded, then asked "Are all of these categories here at the school?"

Jean nodded.

"Mutants have certainly given us non-mutants something to think about." Kate said, biting into an Oreo. "I've never really understood the innate fear we humans have of the unknown. Well, I guess I know why the fear was there in the first place. Survival of the fittest and all that. Those that didn't know not to get in the range of the saber-tooth tiger, didn't live to pass on the lack of understanding but why now? We're an intelligent race of animals even if we do do dumb things." An idea popped into Kate's head and she asked "Have the students read 'Inherit the Wind'? It's about the Scopes 'monkey' trial in Tennessee back in the 1920's. It's a famous case."

"With Clarence Darrow, right? A movie came out about it a while ago." Jean replied.

Kate shook her head and said "It certainly would give the students something to think about. Not that they don't have enough to think about already." she added hastily.

"Ask Scott tomorrow." Jean said. She stood again and collected the mugs, putting them in the sink. She turned around and asked Kate "Feel better?"

Kate nodded and stood as well. "Thank you. I needed that talk."

"You're most welcome. Thank you for coming out here to teach and letting the children know that not all non-mutants are bad." Jean responded.

Impulsively, Kate went over to Jean and hugged her. "Really, thank you."

Startled, Jean could only murmur, "You're welcome."

Kate eyed the falling snow out the kitchen window and made a face. "Yuck, look at the weather. I'd better go, it's going to be a slow drive home tonight."

Jean turned and looked out the window. She looked back at Kate and said "You're more than welcome to stay overnight. You know we've got plenty of room."

"Thank you but I'd rather see if I can't get home. Besides, if I don't, my dog is going to forget who I am. I'll call when I get there." Kate replied. She picked up her coat and purse from the kitchen table and left.

Scott came into the kitchen just after Kate left. He came up behind his wife, rested his chin on her shoulder and put his hands on her hips. "How's Kate doing?" he asked.

"Shaken but she understands. If we had more people like her, we wouldn't have half the problems we have now." Jean said. She took her husband's hands in hers and kissed each one. It was good to have someone to lean on.

Scott turned Jean around so he could look into her eyes.

"What aren't you telling me?" he asked.

"I'm concerned about her driving home in weather like this." Jean said, pointing out the window. "Yes, she lives around here and yes, she's driven in snow before but, probably not after a day like today."

Scott did not know quite how to respond so, he said nothing.

"She did say she would call when she got home. I just hope she gets home in one piece."

"As little help as this is going to be, that's about all you could have gotten from her. She'll be fine." Scott said. He took Jean by the hand and said "Come with me, we'll find some way to pass the time."

Jean grinned and followed her husband from the kitchen.

**Chapter Eighteen**

After the excitement with Chad and the alarm, Kate's life settled down again but it didn't stay that way for long. A few days before St. Patrick's Day, instead of planning how her students would discuss the popular holiday, she was fighting a cold and losing. A simple sneeze from three days before had been her downfall but she hadn't know that at the time. The sneeze gave way to a ragged cough and a runny nose which gave her a wicked sore throat and a low-grade fever. On top of all of that, she felt absolutely horrendous.

Every fiber of her body ached. Her head was pounding, her throat hurt, she just wanted to lie down on the floor. A shiver raced through her and she coughed, grimaced and swallowed. She need to get through one last class and then get home, all while avoiding Jean, 'cause once Jean got a good look at her, it'd all be over.

_Maybe if I lie down in the teacher's lounge for a few minutes, I'll be able to make it through the rest of the day._ She had skipped lunch to get a little peace and quiet and, maybe, a few minutes of sleep. Hopefully, she wouldn't be terribly missed. She pushed open the door to the teacher's lounge, sank onto the nearest couch and closed her eyes.

*******

"Mr. Summers?" Bobby asked from the classroom doorway.

"Yes, Bobby?" Scott replied, looking away from the chalk board for a moment. Class was about to start and he hadn't quite finished the last equation he wanted the class to work on.

"Have you seen Ms. Renard? She's not in the classroom."

Scott frowned and put down the chalk. Kate hadn't been at lunch either. "No, I haven't. Did she leave an assignment on the board for the class?"

"Yeah."

"Get started on it. I'll go and see where she is."

Bobby nodded and left.

Scott turned and looked at his students. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes. Get to work on the equations on the board and I'd better not hear any noise coming out of this room when I get back."

Twelve heads nodded in response.

//Jean, I hate to bother you but Kate's gone missing. I'm going to check the teacher's lounge. I'll let you know what I find.// Scott sent a mental message to his wife after stepping out into the hallway.

//All right. Tell me when you find her. I'll let the Professor know what's going on.// Jean's response echoed in Scott's mind.

A few minutes later, Scott found Kate exactly where he thought he would, fast asleep on the couch, in the teacher's lounge. He crouched down next to her and put a hand on her forehead. //Jean, I found her. I'm in the teacher's lounge. You need to get down here, she's burning up.//

//I'll be there in a couple of minutes. If she wakes up, keep her there.//

Scott sat down on the edge of the couch, pulled off his sweater and covered Kate with it. "Why did you come if you felt so bad?" he murmured.

Kate stirred at the sound of his voice. She woke up, saw Scott and frowned. "Scott? What are you....where'd you come from?"

"Kurt's been teaching me how to teleport." he quipped.

She gave him a half-smile for his attempt at humor, then tried to sit up but her world tilted onto its side and she lay back down. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you. Class started and you weren't there."

"Class started already? I just...." A ragged, hacking cough interrupted her sentence.

Scott got up from the couch and got her glass of water from the sink in the room. He helped her sit up, let her drink, then took the glass back and let her lie down again.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" he asked.

"I was better this morning." She said, her voice coming out as raspy whisper.

"Uh, huh. You realize that you're talking to the King of Denial when it comes to be being sick."

"So I've heard." she whispered. She coughed, closed her eyes and did not open them again.

Jean came into the room a few moments later, medical bag in hand. She traded a worried look with Scott, then crouched down next to Kate. She pulled a stethoscope from her bag and listened to Kate breathe. She felt Kate's forehead next, then looked at Scott.

"Did she wake up?"

"Yeah. She was surprised that classes had started already. She started to sit up but didn't get too far. She was coughing too. I got her some water."

Jean nodded. She had a horrible feeling she knew what was wrong with Kate. "Help me take her down the Med-Lab." She said, putting away the stethoscope and standing up.

Scott nodded and bent down to pick up Kate. "Lead the way."

********

A short time later, Jean stood at a light box in the Med-Lab, looking at Kate's chest X-Ray and she did not like what she saw. Congestion, she had expected. It was the extent of the congestion that surprised and worried her. Kate's right lung was extremely cloudy. It would take time for that much fluid to dissipate. It would take time and patience, something Kate did not have in large amounts when it came to her own health and well-being.

She turned off the viewer and slipped the X-Ray's into their envelope and put them with the rest of Kate's file. She would definitely need help on this one. After a quick phone call to New York City, help was on the way, in the form of Dr. Hank McCoy and his girlfriend, Dr. Cecelia Reyes. Their help would be invaluable in creating a course of treatment for Kate. The first step being to find out if the pneumonia was bacterial or viral. Viral pneumonia would just make a bad situation worse because antibiotics would be useless against a virus but bacterial pneumonia wasn't much better.

She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. _Why did I not see this coming?_ she thought. _I saw her coughing and sneezing. I should have said something or done something or....._

The doors to the Med-Lab opened and Professor Xavier rolled in. He looked over to Kate, then came over to Jean.

"Who's watching your class?" Jean asked. Professor Xavier rarely left his students to their own devices during classtime.

"Nelson Miles. I left them discussing the ethical implications of Machevelli's The Prince." he replied "What happened?"

Jean related the events of the past two hours ending with "Hank is on his way."Professor Xavier nodded and said "How serious is it?"

"I don't know yet but her chest X-Ray was not good. She's got all the classic symptoms."

"I notified her neighbor but should we notify her family?" The Professor asked.

"Her condition's not that bad. Yet."

The doors to the Med-Lab opened again and Danny came in, school books in hand.

He looked first at Professor Xavier, then at Jean. "Ms. Renard's sick, isn't she?" he asked.

Jean nodded. There was no point in lying to Danny. He would find out the truth sooner or later. "How did you know?" she asked.

"I go by her classroom every day on the way to Social Studies and she's always there. She wasn't today." he said. "She wasn't at lunch either."

Jean nodded.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked. "Is she going to be okay?"  
Jean could answer the first question easily and did. "She's got pneumonia." It was the second question that gave her pause. She didn't want to lie to Danny but she honestly didn't know the answer.

Professor Xavier stepped in and saved her from having to lie. "Ms. Renard is in best of hands. Dr. Grey will make sure that she is well-taken care of."

Danny looked at Professor Xavier. He appeared to be on the verge of saying something but he didn't.

"You need to go on to class. Ms. Renard would not want your studies suffering because of her. I'm assuming you don't need someone to walk you back." Professor Xavier said.

"No, sir." Danny replied, looking down at the floor.

"All right, then," Professor Xavier said "tell Ms. Munroe you were talking with myself and Dr. Grey when she asks why you're late."

"Yes, sir." Danny said. He paused then added, "I just..." He stopped and shook his head. "I'll go now." He said instead, turning toward the door.

"Danny?" Jean said.

"Yeah?" Danny replied, looking over his shoulder.

Jean went around him until she was facing him, then put her hands on his shoulders. Looking into his eyes, she said "I don't know if she'll be okay. I hope so. I'm certainly going to do my best."

Danny searched Jean's face for a long moment before nodding.

She sent Danny back out the door, waiting until the Med-Lab's doors shut before saying "Should Scott check on Danny to make sure he got to class?"

Professor Xavier thought for a moment before nodding. "With the state he's in, it would probably be for the best."

********

Kate was in the middle of a very pleasant dream when she started to cough. She coughed and coughed and coughed and couldn't stop. She tried to get some water to drink but couldn't find any water. She tried holding her breath, like people did to cure hiccups, but that didn't work either. She resigned herself to coughing in perpetuity until she blinked and woke up.

She was in the Med-Lab but she didn't remember going there. In fact, she didn't remember much after walking into the teacher's lounge before the afternoon's classes began. Confused, she tried to sit up and get a better look at her surroundings but she quickly discovered that she didn't have the strength to do so.

_Oh My God! What's wrong with me?!_ Panic welled up inside her and she tried to sit up again but all she managed to do was leave herself wheezing and gasping for air.

Rogue came over to Kate's bedside and said "Ms. Renard? Relax, it's okay. Nothing's going to happen to you."

Kate stared at her like she had never seen Rogue before. She blinked and croaked out "Marie?"

"Yeah, Ms. Renard, it's me. Dr. Grey'll be back soon. She went to get something to eat. Dr. McCoy is here. How are you feeling?"

Dr. McCoy? That name stirred a faint memory in the back of Kate's mind but...

"What are you doing here?" Kate whispered.

"I've always wanted to be a doctor or a nurse, so, Dr. Grey has me come down here twice a week to observe." Rogue responded.

Kate nodded. That made sense. "What time is it?" she asked.

"It's a little after seven. You've been asleep for a while."

"What?! Why didn't someone wake me? I'll be late getting home now." Kate again tried to sit up but, again, didn't get very far.

Rogue put a hand on Kate's shoulder to keep her from sitting up. "Ms. Renard, you're really sick. You're not going to be able to go home tonight. You're not even supposed to be moving around. You'll just make yourself feel worse."

Kate glared at her but did not reply to that last comment. There was no possible way she could feel worse than she already did. Instead, she said "What about my dog? If I can't get home, someone needs...." Her voice trailed off as coughing fit seized her.

"Professor Xavier called your neighbor already. He said to tell you that everything's been taken care of." Rogue said.

Kate thought on that for a long moment, secretly glad that she did not have to navigate the road home with the way she felt. All that mattered was that Midge was taken care of. She blinked and tried to put into words her next thought. She had wanted to ask something else but couldn't remember what. It was like her brain was wrapped in cotton.

"How'd I get down here?" She finally asked.

Rogue related the story that she had been told, finishing with "You'd be proud of us, Ms. Renard. We stayed 'on-task' the whole class period. We didn't talk or giggle or anything else. Even Jon did some of his work."

Kate gave her a half-smile. "If this is what it takes for Jon to work, I need to get sick more often."

Another coughing fit seized her but this one was different. She couldn't catch her breath after she stopped coughing.

"Kate?" A vaguely familiar voice echoed in her ear. "I want you to try and relax. Then, I want you to try and take a deep breath."

She tried to do as she was instructed but she couldn't. She lost track of Marie and the other voice as she struggled to take a breath. Two voices swirled above her head and then an oxygen mask was slipped over her nose and mouth, the warm, moist air tickling her nose.

"Concentrate on taking each breath." The voice said. "Let the mask do the work for you."

She did as she was told and slowly, the tightness in her chest loosened and she didn't have to fight for every breath. She blinked, her vision cleared and she saw the owner of the voice.

"Hank?" she asked, even though he couldn't really hear her.

"Greetings, Kate. I was hoping that we would meet again under more favorable circumstances but it seems not to be." He said.

She blinked and tried to follow what he was saying but couldn't.

"Jean will be back shortly, have no fear. She needed to get something to eat."

Kate nodded.

"Until then, you will have to be satisfied with Rogue and myself. I hope that is suitable."

Kate nodded again.

"Would you like something to eat? Perhaps some soup, something easy to digest."

The very thought of food made Kate's stomach roll over. She shook her head.

"All right but you should know that Cook has an absolutely wonderful recipe for chicken noodle soup. None of that stuff from the can here."

Kate nodded. She was certain that Hank was right but at that moment, all she wanted to do was sleep.

Hank reached over and felt her forehead. Then he pulled out his stethoscope and listened to her breathe. He didn't look happy when he was finished.

"Go back to sleep, Kate. We can talk later." he said.

She was only too happy to oblige.

**Chapter Nineteen**

Upstairs, Jean and Scott grabbed a few private moments on a couch near the elevator that went to the lower floors, before Jean returned to the Med-Lab. She was sprawled on Scott's lap, her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed. She could hear his heart beat and feel him breathe. It relaxed her like nothing else in the world.

Scott wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. She worked so hard, often to the point of exhaustion, when someone was sick or hurt. Kate was no different.

"How's she doing?" he asked, voicing the question that everyone at the mansion was thinking.

"She's doing as well as can be expected." She replied, not bothering to open her eyes. "It's a good thing you found her when you did. I would have hated to have her try and drive home feeling as bad as she did."

"It's that bad?" he asked.

She opened her eyes and nodded. "Ever heard of 'walking pneumonia'?"

He thought for a moment then shook his head. "Isn't that what Jim Henson died from?"

"I think so. It sounds so benign, doesn't it? But it's not. All 'walking pneumonia' means is that the person can get up and move around. That lulls them into thinking that they'll be fine in a few days. That had to be what Kate had. I wish she had said something earlier."

Scott nodded but did not reply. He had the utmost faith in Jean's doctoring abilities but he also knew that she, like anyone else, had her limits. She couldn't diagnosis someone just by looking at them. He studied Jean's face for a long moment and did not like what he saw. She rarely, if ever, wore such a look of defeat.

"What aren't you telling me?" he asked.

Jean bit her lip and didn't reply immediately. And Scott knew, without asking, why she hesitated.

"That's why you asked me to check and make sure Danny got to class." He said, understanding dawning. "What happened? What did he see?"

"He didn't see anything but he knew something was wrong with Kate. He knew she was sick. He wanted to know what was wrong and if she would be all right."

Not wanting to prod, Scott waited a moment before saying "And?"

"And I didn't have an answer for him." She looked up at her husband. "Charles tried to deflect the question but in the end I had to tell him that I didn't know. And then I had to send him back to class." She looked down at her hands. "I hate doing that to the kids. I should be able to answer their questions. I hate not being able to calm their fears."

Scott tipped her chin up and looked into her eyes. "No one does. You may not think you calmed his fears but I think you did. I saw him in the hallway just as soon as I came out to look for him. He nodded at me and kept going. I followed him and he went straight to 'Ro's room. He knocked politely and when one of the kids answered the door, he was very calm in stating why he was late." He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "You do not give yourself enough credit. Between you, Hank and Cecelia, Kate is in the best possible hands. She is very lucky to have all three of you as her doctors."

Jean smiled and said "Your faith in me is wonderful." She kissed him in return, then slid off his lap. "I told Hank I wouldn't be gone long. Don't wait up for me. I'll see you in the morning."

Scott watched her go, worry etched on his face for her. Kate was in the best of hands, he knew that. His real worry was about Jean.

*******

Jean had barely crossed the Med-Lab's thresh hold when she heard Kate cry out. A few more steps into the room told her why. Hank, in his natural, blue, furry form, had been changing out the I.V. bag when Kate woke up and saw him. Eyes wide with fear, she tried getting away from him but, obviously, couldn't get that far.

"She's delirious from the fever, Hank, she means no offense." Jean said, joining him at Kate's bedside.

"That's quite all right, no offense taken." Hank, a.k.a. Beast replied. "I sent young Marie upstairs. It is getting a bit late for her."

Jean nodded.

"What are you?" Kate demanded, in the raspy wheeze that her voice had become. "Why'd Jean call you Hank? You can't be him. What'd you do with him?" Her eyes darted from Beast to Jean and back.

"Kate, this _is_ Hank." Jean said, putting her hand on Beast's arm. "This is his mutation. The kids call him Beast."

"Some of them call me Dr. Beast." Beast added.

Kate blinked and struggled to reconcile the information in her mind with what was being seen by her eyes. "Your mutation is to look like a giant version of Grover?" She asked.

There was a startled silence followed by Jean saying "Okay, that's a new one."

"I'm being compared to Sesame Street? I'm flattered. Grover was always one of my favorites. Although I did have a fondness for Oscar the Grouch."

"My heart belonged to Cookie Monster." Jean said, following his lead. Anything to get Kate to relax.

Beast's humor worked, for Kate gave him a weak smile. She studied him for a long moment before asking "How do you control it? Can you turn it off and on or what?"

"Or what." he replied.

It took a moment for his meaning to sink in but when it did, Kate nodded to show that she understood. She yawned, what little strength she had was fast disappearing.

"Go back to sleep, Kate." Jean told her. "I'll wake you in a bit and see if you can't eat something."

Kate nodded and was asleep in moments.

Jean and Beast walked back to Jean's desk. She perched on the edge of it and asked "Your prognosis, doctor?"

"Pneumonia. Which kind of pneumonia I don't know yet but you said she had been feeling bad for the past couple of days?"

"More like a week, I'm leaning toward viral pneumonia. She'd had a cough and a cold that just wouldn't go away."

Beast nodded. "Had she caught the flu already or was this the first time?"

"First time. She never even showed symptoms of the flu. This morning she was a bit droopy but nothing like I haven't seen a thousand times from a person with a cold."

"I see. I think, unfortunately, that we have reached an impasse. We will have to wait and see what happens."

Jean gave Beast a wry smile. "I concur but you know, I've never been the most patient of people."

*******

News of Kate's illness spread through the school like wildfire and that was good, in a way. No one was surprised to see Scott taking Kate's class load back. But the lack of surprise did not mean that all was well in English class. Her absence from the classroom was keenly felt by all of her students, especially the 9th and 10th graders. They all wanted to know where she was, how she was and when she would be coming back.

It fell to Scott to field the inquires as best he could. It was easier than he had expected because after the first couple of days, most of the questions came from one particular student.

Danny.

The conversation Scott had with Danny about Kate, happened at least once a day and followed a predictable script.

"Mr. Summers?"

"Yes, Danny?"

"How's Ms. Renard?"

"She's still pretty sick but she appreciates you asking about her."

"When's she coming back?"

"When she's feeling better. You don't want her to come back when she's still feeling bad, do you?"

A shake of the head, then "Ms. Renard _is _coming back, right?"

"Of course. She loves being with all of you. It just takes a while to get over pneumonia."

"Can we go see her?"

"You can ask Dr. Grey but I don't think so. She's not up to seeing anyone right now."

"Oh."

"Give it a couple of days and then see how she's doing."

"Okay."

And the conversation was done until the next day.

After three days of the same conversation, Scott mentioned it to the other adults, after dinner, in hope of getting some suggestions of what to do.

"He truly believes that Kate's not coming back. Every time I tell him she'll be back, he nods and goes back to his desk, problem solved. Then, we're back at it again the next day. It's like we never even talked. It's like I can't reassure him enough." Scott said to the others.

"The easiest way to reassure him would be to let him talk to Kate but that's not going to happen just yet, is it?" Storm asked Jean.

Jean shook her head. "She just doesn't have the strength right now and she might not for the next few days as well. I was thinking of having her write Danny a short message saying she'll be back but she hardly has the energy to sit up, let alone hold a pen and write."

"Perhaps then, Danny should write to Kate. It could be a Get Well Soon card. " Professor Xavier said. "It should provide him with the reassurance he needs and it might make Kate feel a little better."

Jean slowly nodded. "I hadn't thought of that. That would be just the thing wouldn't it?"  
"Why not have all the students make a card or something for Kate?" Storm asked. "I know for a fact that Danny is not the only one who misses Kate. He just happens to be the most obvious."

Professor Xavier nodded and said "An excellent idea. We can start on it tomorrow."

******

Danny took the Get Well card project to heart. He wanted to make the best card ever for his favorite teacher and he wanted to deliver it personally, even though that wasn't part of the original plan.

"Please Dr. Grey. It won't take long. Please?" He pleaded, his eyes beseeching Jean.

Jean looked at him, her arms crossed, her mind made up. "You know that you're only one that's asked to deliver your card personally." she said.

"Then you should let me deliver it." Danny replied.

_Oh, I walked into that one._ Jean thought. "Danny, you know that Ms. Renard isn't really ready to see anyone, that's why we came up with the idea of the cards."

"I can stand in the doorway. I won't get anywhere near her." he said.

Jean sighed and caved. "All right. Follow me."

A smile wreathed Danny's face as he followed Jean into The Med-Lab.

"Now, stand right here." Jean told him, stopping in front of her desk. "I'll tell her you're here."

He nodded.

Jean went over to Kate's bed and gently touched her on the arm. "Kate? Danny has a card he wants to give you."

Kate blinked and nodded. As bad as she felt, she didn't want Danny to feel unappreciated.

Jean turned and nodded to Danny.

He held out the card in his hand and looked at. Slowly, the card rose from his palm and floated across the space between the desk and the bed. It wobbled a few times but never fell to the floor. The card hovered over the bed, allowing Kate to see both the inside and outside, then landed gently on the table next to the bed.

Kate smiled and whispered "Thank you."

Jean relayed her words to Danny, then escorted him out into the hallway.

"Can I trust you to go back upstairs and stay out of trouble?" she asked him.

Danny nodded, all smiles. He raced down the hallway to the elevator, then turned back and shouted "Thanks, Dr. Grey!"

"You're welcome!" she shouted back.

She made sure he actually got on the elevator before returning to The Med-Lab.

"Jean?" Kate asked her, when she came over to Kate's bed to check on her.

"Yes?" Jean replied.

Kate blinked and swallowed several times before finally saying "How's Danny doing?"

"He misses you. He asks Scott every single day about when you're coming back. He's actually the reason we came up with the Get Well cards. He hasn't been throwing any furniture if that's what you're asking." Jean felt Kate's forehead, then pulled a thermometer from the pocket of her lab coat. "Open." she said.

Kate did.

Two minutes later, the thermometer beeped and Jean removed it.

"103˚." she said. She held out her hand and Kate's medical chart came to her. She recorded the information, then looked down at Kate. "Your temperature's come down a bit. How are you feeling?"

"Like an elephant's sitting on my chest." Kate wheezed.

Jean nodded and made another notation on the chart. "I'm going to help you sit up now, so I can listen to your lungs."

"Okay."

Afterwards, as Jean finished updating Kate's chart, Kate summoned up her nerve and asked a question that had been nagging at her for weeks.

"When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?"

Jean glanced at her, then back down at the chart. "When I was kid."

"Didn't your powers make medical school harder for you than the average student?"

"Yes." Jean closed the chart and returned it to its place. "Your lungs are still congested so I'm going to take another chest X-Ray. Your temperature is coming down though, so, I think you might have made it through the worst part."

If Kate noticed the abrupt shift in the conversation, she said nothing about it. There were a few things in her past that Kate didn't exactly want to talk about either.

Professor Xavier paid a visit during the examination. He waited for the two to finish before speaking. "I came to see how you were doing." he said to Kate.

Kate smiled and said "I've been better but Jean thinks I'm might have gotten over the worst part."

Professor Xavier looked back at Jean for a moment. "Really? That's wonderful. The children do miss you."

"So does Scott." Jean added. "He really wants you to take the English classes back. He had gotten used to only dealing with Math."

That got another smile from Kate. "Always nice to be wanted." She yawned. "Excuse me."

"No excuse needed. We'll let you go back to sleep." Jean said. "And when you wake up, maybe you'll want something to eat?"

Kate blinked and nodded. "Okay, maybe." She yawned and was asleep a few moments later.

"Any improvement?" Professor Xavier asked, following Jean over to her desk.

"Yes and no. Her temperature is down, slightly but her appetite is nonexistent and her lungs are still terribly congested." Jean tilted her head to one side and _looked_ at her mentor. "What's going on?"

"I've located a group of mutants not too far from here. It's a group of three. I can't tell, however, whether they're adults or children."

Jean rolled the Professor's words around in her head for a few moments, then said "Where's Hank? I can't leave Kate alone."

In answer, The Med Lab's doors slid open and Hank walked in.

"Timing is everything." he said.

*****

Hours later, Kate woke up, blinked and was incredibly confused. Jean wasn't there but Hank was. Why? Where was Jean? Hank wasn't supposed to be there yet. And why was he wearing one of those cyborg-looking cell phone earpieces?

She yawned and went back to sleep before getting any answers to her questions.

*****

Much later on that night, voices woke Kate. Annoyed, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but the voices would not let her. She rolled back over and sat up. She yawned and blinked and got an unexpected peek at the darker side of the mutant world.

A girl, no older than fifteen, came through the Med-Lab's doors escorted by Storm. The girl looked a mess, her face was filthy and her clothes were in tatters. She was crying; the tears cutting a path through the grime on her face.

Storm led the girl to an empty exam table and said something to the girl but her voice was pitched too low for Kate to hear.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone....I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt anyone...I'm sorry..." the girl started to babble.

Kate frowned, confused. She found out a few moments later what the girl was talking about.

Scott and Logan were carrying a gurney through the Med-Lab's doors but Kate couldn't tell who was on it. Meanwhile, Hank, the cyborg earpiece still in his ear, checked the girl out, gave her a clean bill of health and released her into Storm's care. They left and Hank turned his attention to helping Jean and the person on the gurney.

Kate blinked, then blinked again. Either she was seeing things or everyone, with the exception of Hank, was dressed in black leather from head to toe.

The person on the gurney moaned, causing Logan to lean over and say "Hang in there, kid. I told ya' to watch out for her hands."

"I was." The person said in a weak voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

"All right," Jean said, "on the count of three, we're going to move him onto the table."

Logan and Scott nodded, followed Jean's instructions, then moved the gurney out of the way. When they did, Kate was given a full view of what was wrong; the man's leg bone was sticking up out of his leg!

Kate covered her mouth with both hands and tried not to scream.

_Oh My God!! What happened?!_

But an answer to her question would be long in coming. A wave of nausea followed by a wave of cold struck Kate with a force that made her gasp. She lay back down and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep. Neither Hank nor Jean had the time right then to deal with her. She would feel better when she woke up, she knew it.

Scott watched Kate fall back asleep, concerned with how much she had seen. For the moment, though, that concern would wait, it had too. Bobby recovering from a compound leg fracture was far more important.

******

The Med-Lab was dark and quiet when Kate woke up. She stretched and sat up slowly, waiting to see if the nausea had disappeared. It had. She looked around and got the surprise of her life. Bobby was in the bed next to her, fast asleep. His leg was in a cast that went up to his knee and was supported by a sling. Kate's eyes went wide. That had been Bobby on the gurney that Scott and Logan had brought in!

_Oh My Lord! _

She must have made some squeak of surprise or a noise of some kind without realizing it because, suddenly, someone was standing next to her bed. Thinking it was Jean, Kate turned her head to the left and got a second surprise. A petite, dark-haired woman with Hispanic features was standing there.

Kate stared for a long moment, not quite knowing what to say but before she could say anything, the woman introduced herself.

"I'm Dr. Cecilia Reyes. I'm a friend of Dr. McCoy and Dr. Grey." she said.

Kate nodded.

"Dr. Grey and Dr. McCoy will be back after they've gotten some sleep and something to eat. How are you feeling? I checked on you when I came in and your fever had gone back up."

Kate gathered her wits together and said "I feel a little better. What happened to Bobby?"

"There was an accident. As I'm sure you know, sometimes the children's powers get away from them." Dr. Reyes said.

Kate frowned for a moment, then said "Bobby's power is turning things to ice. Did he slip on the ice he made?"

Dr. Reyes almost smiled. "It wasn't his fault. His powers didn't go out of control."

"Have his parents been informed?" Kate asked.

"All the proper people have been notified." Dr. Reyes replied. "Would you like something to eat? You'll feel better with some actual food in you."

Kate shook her head. "I'm not hungry. Maybe later."

"That's okay. How about something to drink?" Dr. Reyes asked.

Kate thought on that question for a long time. When was the last time she had had something to drink? She couldn't remember, so she nodded. "I'd like some apple juice. It's been a long time since I've had some."

Dr. Reyes nodded. "Okay. I'll send the order up."

She seemed faintly amused by Kate's behavior but Kate couldn't say why. Perhaps when Hank or Jean came back, Kate could ask them.

There must have been something in the juice because once Kate finished the glass, she went right back to sleep and missed her chance to ask any other questions of Dr. Reyes.

*****

By the time Kate woke up, Jean had traded places of Dr. Reyes and was talking to Bobby. She stared at Jean for a moment, then blinked and shook her head. For a split second, Jean had been wearing a black leather suit.

_Man, what drugs am I on?_ Kate thought.

She cleared her throat, making Jean look up from her conversation.

"Ah, good afternoon, Kate. Dr. Reyes tells me that you something to drink. That's great. Are you ready to try something solid? I know Hank has told you about Cook's magical chicken noodle soup."

Kate smiled but shook her head. "Not hungry, sorry." She looked at Bobby and said "What happened to you?"

"I got in the way." Bobby replied, a sheepish smile crossing his face. "I wasn't watchin' what I was supposed to be watchin'."

A snippet of a memory popped into Kate's head when Bobby spoke. She tilted her head and frowned. It was something to do with Logan and watching the kid's hands?

"Something wrong?" Jean asked.

"I've been having the strangest dreams lately. I'd tell you but you'll think I really _have_ gone around the bend." Kate replied.

Bobby snorted and Jean grinned. "No more than we already do." she said.

Kate knew when she was being teased. "All right, you asked for it. I had this dream last night." She frowned, "I guess it was last night, it's kinda hard to tell down here. This dream had you in it." She pointed at Jean. "And you were dressed head to toe in black leather."

Jean quirked an eyebrow, grinned and said "Black leather? Why Kate, I had no idea you were that kind of person."

"I'm not, you asked." Kate replied, feeling her face grow hot from embarrassment.

"True." Jean said. She looked down at Bobby and said "Cover your ears, you're not supposed to hear things like this." A smile twitched at her lips as she spoke.

"Dr. Grey, I'm eighteen. This is all I think about." Bobby replied.

Jean laughed and shook her head. "You'd think I'd remember." She looked up at Kate. "Anyone else in your dream? Or is it just me and my Emma Peel fetish?"

"No, it wasn't just you. There was Scott, Logan, Hank, Storm, someone on a stretcher. There was a teenage girl too." Kate said. "Logan was muttering something about watching her hands?" She frowned again, lost in thought, and completely missed the significant look that passed between Jean and Bobby. "Okay, am I nuts?"

Jean shook her head. "No, you're not nuts. You're sick and you've been sick for over a week with a high fever. You've had nothing solid to eat in almost a week and you've been asleep most of the time."

"So, I'm not nuts, just delirious?" Kate asked.

"That's right. It's kinda like when you saw Beast for the first time but you didn't know who or what he was. You thought he was some kind of monster. You didn't know he was Hank until I told you."

Kate nodded slowly. What Jean said, made sense.

"But the black leather? I'll have to remember that. I wonder if Scott's around." Jean said, with a laugh.

******

"She remembers seeing the uniforms?" Professor Xavier asked Jean, after dinner that evening. They were sitting in his study, having an after dinner drink.

"She remembers everything. She saw everything. Fortunately, she thinks what she saw was a dream." Jean replied.

Professor Xavier nodded. "We will have to tell her at some point. I was hoping not to but either we tell her or she finds out in another, less pleasant way."

"We don't have to come to that particular bridge yet but I felt you should know." She stood and hugged the Professor. "Good night, Charles."

"Good night, Jean. Thank you for the update." Professor Xavier said to her. After she left, he remained in his study, lost in thought.

He had always known in the back of his mind that Kate would have to be told about The X-Men, he had just hoped it would be later, much, much later, always at some distant point in the future. Which of course, he was turning out to be seriously off base. He could only hope that Kate would accept the information in the same way she had accepted everything else she had witnessed at the school.

If not...

**Chapter Twenty**

The days passed, one into another, with Kate feeling better and better each day. And the better she felt, the more visitors she was allowed to have. Danny came to see her as often as he was allowed. Brenda came out a few times as well. And then there was Gordon. He had come by when she had first gotten sick but she had been so out of it, he hadn't stayed long. That made his next visit all the more pleasant, if a bit unexpected as well.

He paused to speak to Beast, then came over to Kate, who was feeling well enough to be sitting up in bed and reading a book. "Why am I not surprised to see an English teacher reading Eats, Shoots And Leaves." he said.

Kate looked up at the sound of his voice, a smile wreathing her face. "Gordon! What a delightful surprise."

"Hi there. I heard you were feeling better, so I came by." He said, sitting down on a chair.

"You came all the way out here just to see me?" she asked.

Gordon looked over at Beast, as if looking for guidance.

Beast snorted and said "Do not look to me for either guidance or absolution. If you chose to engage in a campaign of willful misinformation, then you shall do it by yourself."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "As much as I'd like to say yes, I'd be lying. I come out here to the school every couple of weeks to proctor some classes on computing."

"Really? That's wonderful. How long have you been doing this?" Kate asked.

"A couple of years now. The kids really seem to enjoy it." Gordon replied. "How are you doing?"

She smiled and coughed and said "I feel like I'm living the saying 'Two steps forward, one step back'. Every time I think I've got this thing licked, I'm reminded that I haven't." She coughed again as if for emphasis.

When the coughing did not stop after a few moments, Beast came over and slipped an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. "You know what to do. Just let the mask do the work." he told her.

She nodded and relaxed against the pillows, closing her eyes.

Had the situation not been so serious, Gordon might have found the image of Beast's overlarge fingers dwarfing Kate and the oxygen mask funny.

"Should I go?" he asked Beast.

Before Beast could respond, Kate opened her eyes, reached over and took Gordon's hand in hers. She locked eyes with him for a moment before closing her eyes again.

Startled, Gordon looked down at his hand before looking up at Beast.

"I'd say that was a 'no'." he said, chuckling.

A few minutes later, Beast checked Kate's breathing and removed the mask. He listened to her lungs and pronounced her 'okay' for now.

"See what I mean?" she whispered, opening her eyes, her throat raw from coughing.

Gordon nodded. "Are you sure you want me to stay?"

She nodded. "You don't have to say anything." Her words were coming far more slowly than they had been just a few moments before.

"All right, anything for a pretty lady."

She smiled and closed her eyes again. It wasn't long before her grip on his hand slackened as she dropped off to sleep. Gordon looked around and waved Beast over. He came and checked on Kate again.

"You can let go now." He said to Gordon. "She's gone back to sleep."

Gordon looked down at Kate's fingers intertwined with his and was, oddly, reluctant to do so.

"Or you can stay right where you are. However, I do not know when she will awaken again." Beast told Gordon. He made some notes in Kate's chart and returned the chart to its place.

"She said she felt like she was getting better, only to fall back." Gordon said, twisting around to see Beast. "What's the truth?"

Beast gave an elegant shrug of his massive shoulders. "With pneumonia, it's always hard to tell. However, she has been having fewer coughing spells and her temperature is coming down. I do believe that she will be fine but it will be quite some time before she is completely well again."

Gordon took Beast's words in and nodded. His watch beeped and he was forced to let Kate's hand go in order to turn it off. He looked down at his watch, then back at Kate.

"She will not be leaving this room for several more days, at least." Beast said.

Gordon sighed, gave Kate's hand a quick squeeze and stood. "Thank you, Beast." he said.

"You are most welcome." Beast replied.

"Tell her, I'll be back when I can."

"Of course."

Beast watched Gordon leave, then allowed himself another, small, smile. "You have quite an admirer there, Katherine, I hope you realize it."

*******

Beast was correct in his prediction of Kate's recovery. Within the week, Kate had made such leaps forward in her recovery from the pneumonia that the day she thought would never come, did. She was finally released from the Med-Lab but as with everything in life, there were strings attached. Neither Hank nor Jean would clear her to drive so she was stuck at the mansion, for the time being.

"It's just until you're able to get around without wanting to lie down after a few minutes." Jean told Kate on the elevator ride upstairs. "You may think that because you're feeling all right that you can go back to your normal schedule immediately but you can't, your body's not quite ready yet. It'll come though, I promise."

Kate nodded. Jean's words made sense. She was winded just from walking to the elevator. That didn't mean that she wasn't disappointed, she was, but, if she was going to be forced to convalesce somewhere other than her home, why not at a gorgeous mansion with her every whim catered to?

The elevator came to a stop on the main floor and the doors opened.

"Just how long was I in the Med-Lab anyway?" Kate asked. She blinked at the natural light flooding the hallway, her eyes taking a moment to adjust after being under the artificial light of the Med-Lab for so long.

"Twelve days. That's about average." Jean replied, stepping off the elevator.

"Really? That's all? It seemed a lot longer." Kate said, following her.

"When you're sick, you lose track of time, you ever notice that?" Jean asked.

Kate thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Where are we going?"

"Outside. I thought you might like sit on the patio for a while. Spring has really sprung!" Jean said.

Kate smiled in response. Oh, to feel the sun on her skin again!

A bell rang and the hallway filled with students. Jean and Kate stepped to one side, letting the children go past. A moment or two later, they continued on but Kate stopped almost immediately, surprise flashing across her face.

"Dylan?" she asked, catching a glimpse of a familiar face in amongst the students that went past.

A sandy-haired, lanky boy of no more than fourteen, stopped and turned to face her, a half-smile on his face.

"Hi, Ms. Renard." he said.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out, before realizing what she had said.

In response, his backpack came off his shoulder, floated around him and landed on the floor in front of him.

Kate's eyes popped open. If Dylan had been a pre-mutant, that would certainly explain a lot of his behavior at The Crestwell School.

"When did this happen?" she asked.

"It's probably been going on for a while now 'cause stuff would happen and I caused it but I didn't know that I caused it. But it's only been in the last couple of weeks that it really started to get out of control." Dylan said.

Kate swallowed and asked a question she just had to ask. "What was your father's reaction?"

Dylan snorted in response, adding "He kicked me out. I don't exist anymore according to him. He never had a son." He spoke the words quietly but they reverberated deep within Kate's soul. How could a parent just abandon their child like that?

She opened her mouth to say something, offer some words of consolation but caught a spark of anger in his eyes, just as she had so many times before in her old job and closed her mouth.

"It's okay, Ms. Renard. It's better this way. At least, I know I'm not a freak or something like that." He looked at Jean and said "Are we having a test today, Dr. Grey?"

Jean smiled and nodded. "I hope you've studied."

"Man...." Dylan looked absolutely crestfallen. "I'm gonna late for Mr. Summer's class too." he muttered.

"Tell Mr. Summers you talking to myself and Ms. Renard." Jean told him.

He nodded. "Thanks, Dr. Grey. Bye, Ms. Renard."

And just like that, he was gone, down the hallway and out of sight.

Kate stared after him, her mouth hanging open.

"Former student?" Jean asked, amused, and a little surprised, by Kate's reaction to Dylan.

Kate nodded. "He was one of the... most unpleasant children I had to deal with." She looked down the hallway after Dylan. "The real kicker is that his father is rabid anti-mutant. In fact, his father is one of the reason that I got fired."

Jean's eyebrows went up. "Really?"

Kate nodded.

"He wasn't too happy to see us when we picked him up, that's probably why." Jean said, shaking her head.

"I'm not at all surprised. I am surprised that Dylan is one piece, physically and mentally." Kate said.

Jean nodded. "We figured that there was probably some abuse in his background based his reaction to us. You think it was physical as well as mental?"

Kate took a long time in answering but when she did, she said "I don't know. I never saw the physical evidence if it was. I saw the mental evidence. Some kids are nasty and that's just the way they are, you know? With Dylan though, it was different. It was like he had a reason to be nasty. I always wondered why he was such a colossal pain in the tuckus, now I know. When did you pick him up?"

Jean counted in her mind and said "Two days after you were taken to the Med-Lab."

"So, he's been here almost two weeks?"

Jean nodded.

"I'm just amazed. He's a completely different kid." She frowned. "Is it normal for a kid to make such a rapid change in behavior?"

"Depends. If he was suffering from mental abuse like you said, then once he was removed from that abuse, it is possible that he would return to his normal self shortly thereafter. We didn't know you knew Dylan. Would you mind talking to Professor Xavier later on today and telling him what you told me? Anything he gather on Dylan's mental state would be a great help."

Kate nodded. "Of course, I'll be happy to." A crooked grin crossed her face. "This is going to sound horrible but I hope Cliff Wells is suffering right now, wondering where Dylan is. He's probably not but I can always hope." Another grin crossed her face. "This is the best example of karma that I've ever seen. Couldn't happen to a _nicer_ person."

******

The ringing phone drew Mark Kincaid out of his dark thoughts. He looked toward the open door of his study and waited.

"Mr. Kincaid?" William, the house steward, spoke from the doorway. He was holding a cordless phone in one hand.

"Yes? Who is it?" Kincaid asked.

"A Clifford Wells, sir." William replied.

Kincaid frowned. He knew that name but didn't know why. He held out his hand and William brought the phone to him. He dismissed William with a wave of his hand and settled back into his leather armchair, the aged leather creaking comfortingly around him.

"This is Mark Kincaid. Who is this?"

"My name is Clifford Wells." A slightly nasal toned voice came out of the receiver. "I believe we share a mutual problem. Or should I say a mutant problem?"

Kincaid frowned. "Mr. Wells, you must have dialed the wrong number. I don't have a mutant problem."

"But you do have a son that is a mutant. Daniel? Moves things with his mind?" Well's voice held just a hint of malice.

Kincaid didn't reply. He couldn't reply. He didn't know what to say. No one knew where Danny was or what he was. How did this guy know?

"Did you know that there is a cure for mutantcy?" Wells said.

Kincaid swallowed and said "Why would I care if there is? I just told you, I don't have a mutant problem."

Wells laughed and said "How original. Ignore the problem and it will go away. I'm going to give you a phone number and an e-mail address. If what I've said interests you, contact me through that number."

Kincaid found himself reaching for a pen and piece of paper, and scribbled down the information. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

Wells laughed again. "Because no one's child should go through life as a freak."

The phone went dead in Kincaid's ear, leaving him to stare at the piece of paper in front of him. What to do? What to do?

**Chapter Twenty-One**

The better Kate felt, the more she was allowed to do. Gradually, she resumed her teaching duties. She started slowly, taking her last class of the day, the eleventh and twelfth graders, back first. It was harder to say who was happier, Scott or the kids. It wasn't until she was standing before all of her students, listening to their thunderous applause, that she realized how much she had truly missed them. It felt wonderful to be back in her routine once again.

Once she returned to work, there was at least one surprise for her each day. These were good surprises in the form of a quiet classroom or fewer papers to grade or something else entirely different. One day, waiting for her in the teacher's lounge, was the best surprise of all, a four-legged, furry, tail-wagging surprise.

"Midge?" Kate couldn't believe her eyes. She had barely cleared the door of the teacher's lounge, when she stopped dead. Her mouth hanging open in surprise.

Brenda, seated on a couch on the far side of the room, let Midge's leash go, allowing the dog to fly across the room and into Kate's arm.

"My baby puppy!" Kate cried, scooping Midge up into her arms, the schoolwork in her arms abandoned on the closest table. She sat down a chair near the door and buried her face in Midge's soft fur and inhaled. She had missed her dog most of all.

Midge wiggled all over, her little pink tongue covering Kate's face with kisses. Presently, Kate looked up, joy radiating from her face.

"Thank you so much. Where did you ever get such a wonderful idea?" she asked.

Brenda grinned and said "I've had it bouncing around in my head for a while now but I had to wait until you were over the pneumonia. I called up yesterday, talked to a very pleasant man and got the okay. You work with some really great people, you know that? If they ever need a lawyer, let me know, I'd be more than happy to work for them."

Kate nodded and buried her nose in Midge's fur again.

The door opened then and Storm walked in, followed by Scott. The two were deep in conversation when Storm spied Midge and stopped in mid-sentence.

"Kate, is this the fabled Midge I've heard so much about?" she asked.

Scott stood behind Storm and said nothing.

Kate looked up, startled, then smiled and said "Yes, yes, it is." She stood, put Midge under her arm and made introductions.

"This is my long suffering neighbor, Brenda Truesdale, Midge's second mom." Kate pointed at Brenda, who stood and came over to meet the two. "Brenda, this is Ororo Munroe, she teaches Social Studies and the gentleman behind her is Scott Summers, he teaches Math."

"It's a pleasure to finally put faces to the names I've heard for so long." Brenda said, shaking hands first with Storm, then with Scott. "Ororo, what a beautiful name. That's African, right?"

Storm smiled, nodded and said "Thank you."

"This is a wonderful place. How long has the school been in operation?" Brenda asked.

"Ten years." Scott said. He looked at Midge and said "I would've thought she was bigger from all the stories I've heard." A brief smile crossed his lips.

Brenda quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

Kate flushed and said "I'm not that bad."

"Yes, you are." Storm said. "But that's okay, pets are meant to be spoiled." She held out her hand and let Midge sniff her fingers. Apparently, she passed the sniff test because Midge licked her fingers and allowed Storm to scratch her head. "She's beautiful. What a pretty dog."

"Thank you." Kate said.

"Kate, I need to talk to you but we can do it later." Scott said. "It was nice to meet you." He said to Brenda, before turning and leaving.

"Did I say something wrong?" Brenda asked.

Storm shook her head. "That's just the way he is. Has Kate shown you around?"

Brenda eyed Kate. "No, she hasn't even offered."

Kate flushed again. "I was distracted. Would you like to see the school?"

"Why thank you. I thought you'd never ask." Brenda said, smiling.

*******

The tour of the school took twice as long as Kate had intended but that was only because Midge was with them and every person they saw had to pet Midge.

"Boy, she's going to be so spoiled when I leave, she's not gonna want to come with me." Brenda said, as they walked down the main hallway, headed for the front door.

Kate sighed and said "By the time I get back home, she's not going to want to come back to my townhouse."

"That's what you think. Every day when we go for a walk, she keeps trying to go up your walk. I keep telling her 'Not yet' and she just looks at me." Brenda replied. "I'm sure you've gotten that kind of look from her before, haven't you?"

"Yeah, usually when I'm trying to get her into her carrier so we can go to the vet." Kate said.

The two women reached the front door and stopped.

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you for everything you've done for me and Midge." Kate said, trying to keep her voice even.

Brenda grinned and said "I'll be sure to keep in that in mind the next time I have to do something I don't want to do. And please, if you ever hear of an opening in this place, let me know." She looked down at Midge, who looked up at her expectantly. "All right, little girl, time to go."

But Midge didn't want to go and when Kate handed the leash to Brenda, she yanked the leash out of Brenda's hand and went tearing off down the hallway.

"Midge!" Kate yelled after her, turning to run after her.

"No." Brenda said. "I'll get her. You stay here." She stepped into the hallway and heard Midge barking but as quickly as she had started, she stopped and silence fell.

"Oh, my God." Kate muttered, her face covering her hands. What if Midge had encountered Kurt? What if one of the kids had lifted her and then lost control and sent her flying? What if....

The 'what if's' were put to rest by the arrival of Professor Xavier with Midge on his lap.

"I do believe this is your dog." he said, a smile on his lips. He handed the leash to Kate.

"Yeah, that's my dog." Kate said. "I'm sorry Professor Xavier, he got away from us."

"It's all right. I think I startled him." Professor Xavier said.

"All right, Missy, I said we're leaving and we are." Brenda said to Midge. She came over to Kate and picked up the squirming, wriggling pug.

"You must be Brenda." Professor Xavier said to her. "We spoke on the phone yesterday."

Brenda looked at him and smiled. "Ah, so nice to put a face to the voice. I'd shake hands but they're full at the moment."

Kate flushed a deep crimson and said "My mother would be horrified at my lack of manners. Professor Xavier, this is my neighbor, Brenda Truesdale. Brenda, this is Charles Xavier, Headmaster."

"I was just telling Kate that if you ever need an attorney, I'm your girl." Brenda said to Professor Xavier. "I like working with kids but I don't get the chance terribly often.

"All right, you." she said to Midge, who had almost managed to wriggle free. "We're outta here. Keep it up and no belly rubs tonight."

"Oh, no, anything but that." Kate said. "Thank you a thousand times for bringing her."

"You're welcome. I hope to see you back at the complex soon." Brenda replied. "It was a pleasure to meet you." She said to Professor Xavier.

"Absolutely."

And then Brenda and Midge were gone and Kate wanted to be with them more than anything but that wasn't going to happen just yet. However, that day was coming and soon. She could feel it.

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

The day came finally, a day Kate thought would never come. She was released to drive home. It would be the first time she had been home in almost a month. At the end of the school day, Jean met her at her classroom door and handed over Kate's car keys. A smile of pure joy lit up Kate's feature.

"Oh, wow." she said, staring down at the keys. "Do I even remember how to drive?"

Jean quirked an eyebrow. "Forgotten how to drive, hmm? Are you the same person who's come looking for those keys ever morning this past week?"

Kate flushed. "You didn't have to hide them."

Jean smiled. "I'm married to the King of Denile, you betcha I hide car keys."

"I heard that." Scott said, from next door.

"However, you are far better behaveed then he is, so, because you are, you're free to go. What's the first thing you're going to do when you get home?" Jean asked.

"Hug my dog." Kate replied. She reached over and hugged Jean. "Thank you…for everything. I have no idea what would have happened to me if I hadn't been here."

Jean returned the hug. "You would've worked through it and been fine. That's the way you are. Now, you're going to get stuck in traffic if you don't go now."

"That's right. I'd forgotten about the drive. Ya know, I'm actually looking forward to it." Kate said, picking up her purse and briefcase.

"Well, you know you have a standing offer of a place to live if you ever decide to move." Jean told her, walking down the hallway with Kate.

Kate nodded. "I know. It's very generous of Professor Xavier and I appreciate it."

Jean snorted. "Hey, the kids outnumber us. We need all the help we can get."

"I'll have you know, my money is still on you and the other adults." Kate replied. They walked outside, headed for Kate's car, appreciating the gorgeous, balmy late-April weather. Kate inhaled greedily and smiled. "It's days like this that almost make winter worth while."

"Tell me about it." Jean said.

When they reached Kate's SUV, she dropped her bag and kissed the vehicle. "I thought this day would never come." She said, more to the Durango than to Jean.

"You're as bad as Scott." Jean said, shaking her head.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Kate said. She unlocked and opened the driver's side door, picked up her bag and, carefully, put it on the passenger side. She climbed in and ran her hands down the steering wheel.

"I think I'll leave you two alone." Jean said, "Dinner will be served shortly, you know."

Kate nodded. She had grown use to the evening schedule at the mansion. There were certain things she would miss by returning to her townhouse but she didn't really care. She had been waiting for this day for the last two and a half weeks.

She looked at Jean and grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Drive carefully, please? Don't get too carried away."

"I won't really. Thank you again." Kate reached to shut the door.

"Miss Renard? Miss Renard?!" Danny yelled as came tearing across the lawn. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home, Danny. I've been allowed to drive again." Kate told him.

"Oh." Danny was crestfallen.

"I'm coming back tomorrow. It is a school day."

Danny looked at her for a long moment and Kate was struck by how much younger he acted vs. his actual age.

"Promise?" His question more suited for a to an eight year-old than a thirteen year-old.

"Of course. It'll be like before I was sick. I'll be here for breakfast."

He nodded. "Okay."

"Come on, Danny, dinner's about to be served." Jean said, she put her arm around him and, with a wave to Kate, lead him back inside.

Kate made sure they made it back inside, then slammed her door shut and started the engine, headed, at long last, toward home.

*****

She spotted the sign from the other end of the parking lot and the closer she got, the bigger her smile got. When she pulled into the parking spot in front of her town home, her face threatened to split wide open with joy. Hanging from the upstairs windows of the townhouse was a giant sign saying '_Welcome Home, Kate! We missed you!_'

The sign was only the first of many surprises of the evening. Gordon coming out to greet her, followed by Brenda and Midge, was one. Then, Gordon went to work in the kitchen making dinner for all three of them while Brenda and Kate talked was yet another one. After dinner, the surprises did not stop.

"I am offering my services as chauffer to you for the next week. I shall be back here tomorrow morning to pick you up." Gordon told Kate after dinner.

"That is so sweet of you." Kate said. "But you don't have to do that."

"Of course I don't but I want to." Gordon took Kate's hand in his. "We, both of us, are so fortunate to have you back. The minor inconveinience isn't."

"Gordon's right, Kate. You can't know the depth of my gratitude to the people at your school. You're one of my dearest friend's in the world. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been at work. I don't like to think about it."

Kate looked from Brenda to Gordon then back again. "It's me that's the lucky one. I am beyond blessed to have such wonderful friends like you two." She squeezed Gordon's hand.

From her place on the floor, Midge barked, adding her two cents.

Kate laughed. "I think that's Midge's way of saying 'thank you'."

"I think that's Midge's way of saying 'You can go now.'" Gordon said. "She's been sitting there staring at me for the last ten minutes."

Kate looked down at her dog and sure enough, Midge was staring at Gordon, her entire being focused on him. "Oh, honestly." She leaned over and picked Midge up. "Gordon's a friend, remember?" She said to the dog.

The clock in the kitchen stuck the hour and suddenly, Kate was aware of just how tired she was. She stiffled a yawn. Gordon saw the look on Kate's face and got up from the table. He began collecting dishes and gave Brenda the eye. She took the clue and stood as well, helping him clear the table. When Kate put Midge down and started to stand herself both Gordon and Brenda made her sit back down.

"I'm not an invalid." Kate said, grumbling. "I can help clear the table."

"Of course you can." Gordon soothed her. "But you've got two people willing to do it for you right now. Sit and enjoy."

After the table was cleared and the dishes put away, both Brenda and Gordon said their good-byes and left, leaving Kate truly by herself for the first time in almost a month. She celebrated by going to sleep early but not before giving thanks for the wonderful friends and co-workers she had.

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

April rolled into May and with May came the rapidly approaching end of school. It was only six weeks away and Kate knew she would blink and it would be upon her. In her rare free moments, she wondered what she would do during the summer. She knew she would work on lesson plans for the children, whom she would miss desperately. But beyond that, she had no real plans until school resumed in the Fall. Professor Xavier solved her quandry by mentioning the summer sessions at the school. Kate accepted immediately.

May also brought with it Field Day. A day set aside for games, contests and general fun. It was something Professor Xavier remembered fondly from his school days and had incorporated it at the school. However, Field Day was at the end of May, leaving Kate a month to get through. She certainly had enough to keep her herself occupied. She put Field Day from her mind and set about dragging her students through the end of the school year. She couldn't really blame them either. It was awfully hard to concentrate on the predicate adjective of a sentence when, just outside the window, the cloudless blue sky and verdant green lawn beckoned. Kate asked for, and got, permission to hold class outside. She also revisited the lessons on poetry. She had a bit more success with the lessons that go 'round that she had had in the classroom in the dead of winter.

"All right everyone, today's assignment is to create your own poem." Kate told her 9th and 10th graders one morning in early May. She waited for the expected moaning and grumbling to die down, then added "All the complaining in the world isn't going to get the asignment done. It'll just waste your time."

Chandra, a shapeshifting 14 year-old, raised her hand and asked "Do you have a favorite poem, Ms. Renard?"

Kate leaned against the tree she was sitting under and thought for a long moment. "I have a couple." She grinned. "One is more for a sentimental reasons than anything else."

"What is it?" Danny asked. "Which poem?"

"It's not terribly poetic but I like it."

"So, what is it?" Danny asked again.

Kate smiled. "If I tell you, will you, all of you, work on your poems for the remainder of class?"

All of her students nodded, although a few snuck peeks at their watches to see just how much of class was left.

"Love to eat them mousies/

Mousises what I love to eat/

Bite their little heads off/

Nibble on their tiny feet." Kate's smile widdened. "There was a picture of a cat sitting on a stool playing a guitar underneath the words. I suppose it's not really a poem but a song." She looked at the startled expressions on her student's faces. "No, it's not Wordsworth or Longfellow. It was done by a man named B.J. Killban. He made a famous series of pen and ink drawings titled _Cat In Sneakers_. They came out when I was in elementary school, which shows you how long ago it was." She chuckled to herself. "My aunt taught me that poem when I was in the 3rd grade because she thought it was funny. My mother was mortified. '_Deandra! Why did you teach her that? She recited it to the mayor last night!_'" She looked around at her students and clapped her hands. "Enough of my life's story, get to work." She stood and started to circulate among the students.

There were a few misunderstandings regarding what Kate truly wanted in the assignment but, overall, the assignment was understood and by the time class ended, she had already seen several good poems from some of her less than creative students like Brian and Anthony and Danny. Although, in Danny's case, she did wonder how he was getting any work done. He kept unfolding a piec of paper, reading the paper and then folding it up again.

"Danny?" She asked, coming up next to him as he read the piece of paper yet again.

He started at the sound of his name and hastily stuffed the paper into his pants pocket. He looked up at Kate and said "I'm working Ms. Renard. I'm not reading any notes."

Kate chuckled and said "I didn't say you were. I am curious though, what's on that piece of paper?"

Danny didn't respond immediately. He put his hand over the pocket he had put the paper in and looked away from Kate.

She crouched down next to him. "I'm not going to take it from you, I'm just curious."

He looked at her for a long moment before saying "It's a letter from my dad. He says he's sorry and he wants me to come back home. Isn't that cool?"

"Absolutely! Have you told anyone besides me?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No. I don't really want to either."

Kate frowned. "Why not?"

"They might try and talk me out of seeing him." Danny's chin jutted out. "But they can't."

"Why would you think something like that?"

"They don't think he wants me any more. I didn't think so either but if he didn't, then why write to me and say he did?"

Kate made a face for a moment. "I don't know." She admitted. "What I do know is that you need to tell the other adults."

Danny's face took on a mulish stubborn look that Kate hadn't seen in months.

"Danny? Listen to me. Do you honestly think that Professor Xavier or Mr. Summers or Dr. Grey or Ms. Munroe or Herr Wagner would do anything to keep you from your parents if you wanted to go back to them?" Kate took Danny's chin in her hand, adding "Look me in the eye and tell me they would keep you from your parents."

Danny's dark green eyes sparkled in annoyance and Kate knew she was taking a terrible risk. If he got mad at her, he could seriously hurt her. But the annoyance left as quick as it had come. He looked down at the ground and mumbled "No, they wouldn't."

She released her grip on him. "So, you ARE going to tell them?"

He nodded.

"Today?" She prodded.

He nodded.

The sound of the bell ending class rang loud and clear across the lawn before Kate could get any further promises from Danny. He was off like a shot, not sparing so much as a backwards glance at her. She watched him go, truly at a loss for what to do next with him.

*********

"Scott?" Kate asked, knocking on the doorframe of his classroom the next day.

He looked up from the textbook he had been reading and, like always, Kate felt like a bug under a microscope's lense. "Yes?" he asked.

"Did Danny find you yesterday? He was looking for you. He said he had something to tell you." Kate said.

Scott thought a moment, then shook his head. "I saw him at dinner and he didn't say anything to me."

"That's all right. I'm sure it's nothing but he was quite insistant on finding you." She replied.

"Well, when I see him at lunch, I'll ask."

"Okay." Kate turned and left, retreating to her classroom. She felt a little guilty for lying to Scott, that guilt was tempered by annoyance that Danny had not done as he had promised. He had not told any of the other adults. She had asked each one and each one had said 'no'. What was she going to do now?

*****

"Ms. Renard?" Danny asked, standing in the doorway of Kate's classroom.

"Yes, Danny?" Kate replied. She looked over her shoulder at him while she erased the chalkboard before leaving for the day. "What's wrong?" She asked, seeing the frown on his face.

"Why did you tell Mr. Summers I was looking for him?" Danny asked.

Kate put down the eraser and turned to face him. "Because you were supposed to tell him about the letter you got from your father. If not him, then one of the others. You promised me you would but you haven't yet."

Danny's frown deepened into a scowl. "You didn't trust me to tell them, you had to check on me like I'm some little kid."

She came over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "I trust you completely. If I lost your trust in me, I would be devastated. My asking the others wasn't meant to upset you but I knew you'd have a hard time telling them. I also know that you _have_ to tell them. They can protect you far better than I could."

The scowl on his face morphed into hurt before he said "You could've asked. I'd never lie to you."

Kate's heart broke when Danny said that. "Danny, you've got to believe me when I say that I never meant to upset you or cause you to lose faith in me. I'm in your corner. I just don't want to see you get hurt because you weren't being as careful as you know you should be."

Danny's eyes searched her face. "I know Ms. Renard." He said in a quiet voice. "But I just want to see my dad without a bunch of people hanging around. Why is that a bad thing?"

_It's a bad thing when your father thinks you're a freak and tells you so._ Kate thought. "Danny, you know the answer to that question is far more complicated than you make it sound."

A shrug was his reply.

"I know you're a man of your word, so, please tell one of the other adults before the sun goes down today. Don't break your word to me."

He nodded. "I won't Ms. Renard."

******

Danny's words echoed in Kate's head when she came to work the next morning and she wondered if he had truly done what he had promised to do. Apparently so, if she was to use his demeanor in class as any indication. He was happier than he had been in the past few days and when she gave him a _look_, he answered by nodding his head. That nod led her to believe that everything had been worked out with a safe solution that made everyone happy.

With all that in mind, she found it odd to see Danny hiking down the school's driveway, bookbag in hand late that afternoon. However, the children were allowed to go into the nearest town provided they didn't walk there. It was only after she had started her SUV and was headed for the main gate that realization dawned. The realization only enforced by her witnessing Danny climbing into a taxi. All thoughts of going home vanished from her mind. If Danny wasn't going to let the others protect him, she would.

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

"Hey, One Eye." Logan said, standing in the doorway of Scott's classroom.

""What?" Scott replied, not bothering to look up from his student's assignments spread out on his desk.

"You need to read this." Logan walked into the classroom and handed Scott a piece of notebook paper.

Scott scanned the paper, then looked up at Logan. "When did you get this?"

"It was waitin' for me in my room. It'd been slipped under the door."

Scott stood and said "Follow me, we've got a big problem." At the same time, he sent a mental message to Jean and Professor Xavier. //_We've got a major problem. Danny's snuck off to meet his father._//

******

Kate watched as Danny paid the cab driver and sent him on his way. How Danny managed to hoard enough money to afford a cab ride from the school to Croton-on-the-Hudson was amazing. The fact that he had but felt the need to hide the money was disturbing. She watched him amble down the street, headed for the one and only restaurant in town but he walked right past it. Instead, he ducked down a side street next to the restaurant. Thinking quickly, Kate parked in the first spot she found, legal or not, grabbed her cell phone and climbed from her SUV.

It was still light and would be so for the next hour, at least. So, she had plenty of time to get Danny and go back to the school before darkness fell. She ran across the street, then turned down the same street that Danny had taken, managing to catch a glimpse of him as she did. He had stopped at the back of the restaurant and put down his bag. He looked around, apparently waiting for someone. Kate stopped far enough back so that he couldn't see her but close enough that she could grab Danny if need be. She flipped open her cell phone and dialed the school's number. Why she hadn't called earlier, she didn't know.

The call was answered, by Scott, on the first ring. "Kate? Is Danny with you?"

"No, but I followed him and I'm looking at him right now. We're behind The Kettle in Croton-on-the-Hudson."

"Is anyone else there?"

"No, but Danny appears to be waiting for someone."

"All right, Kate. Listen to me. Do not move from where you are. Do not approach Danny. Don't do anything. One of us will be there shortly." Scott told her.

_Hmmm…they'll probably send…_

A pair of hands descended on Kate, cutting off the end of her thought. She shrieked in surprise and dropped the phone.

"Kate?!" Scott's voice boomed from the phone. "Kate?! Answer me!"

Kate couldn't answer Scott, she was too busy fighting off her attacker to talk. A foul smelling rag was pressed to her nose and mouth and the fight went out of her, her phone was crushed and left where she had dropped it.

******

Kate woke up with the worst hangover ever. Her head was pounding, her ears were ringing and there was this nasty, metalic taste in her mouth. She felt like a truck had run over her but that wasn't the worst of it. She had no idea of where she was or how long she had been there. She could only just grasp onto a handful of things she happened to remember and what she did remember, made her grasp. More terrifying still, she had no idea where Danny was or if he was being abused. That thought, galvanized Kate into action. She sat up and took stock of her surroundings. If she was to have any hope of escaping and finding Danny, she needed all the information she could scrounge together.

So what if every time she moved, her head throbbed in protest.

She was in a small, windowless room, probably a store room of some kind. There was a single door, locked, of course, from the outside. There was also the cot she had been lying on and a light in the ceiling but nothing else.

Just to see what would happen, Kate slid off the bed and banged on the door. "HEY!" She yelled. "Open the door!"

As she expected, nothing happened. She kept banging on the door and yelling, until her hand was sore and she was hoarse. Still, nothing happened. Whoever had grabbed her obviously didn't care much about her or someone would have come to see what all the noise was about. She took a step back, then another, bumping into the cot and sitting down hard. The more frightening aspects of her captivity invading her mind.

What did these people have in mind for her? Did these people have something in mind for her? Were they going to just leave her there? Leave her to starve to death? What about her family? Would they ever know what had happened to her? What about the school? She had been on the phone with Scott when she was snatched but so what? They didn't know where she was. How could they? All they could do was call the police and hope for the best. She began to rock back and forth on the cot, her mind running away, imagining a thousand fantastical demises for herself, each one more lurid and depressing than the last.

As she sat there, lost in thought, the door vaporized and Scott and Logan walked in. Kate's head snapped up and her mouth dropped open. Was she seeing things? Was that really Scott and Logan standing there in front of her? In head to toe leather?

"Take Kate and get back to the jet, Jean and I will be along shortly with Danny." Scott said to Logan, before walking back through the doorway.

Logan came over to the cot, helped Kate to her feet and offered her his hand, saying "Hold on and don't let go, no matter what, got it?"

Kate nodded and took hold of his left hand, her fingers digging into his palm. He made a fist with his right hand, making blades pop out between his fingers. _So THAT'S what his mutation is._ Kate thought, following Logan out into the hallway.

"Okay, Storm," Logan said to the air, "that diversion of yers would be good right about now."

In response, the wind began to whistle around the building, rising to a howl in just a few moments. Rain began to lash the building followed by claps of thunder and forks of lightening. Kate only got the briefest glimpses of her surroundings outside of the room before the power went out, plunging the entire building into darkness. Her eyes had barely adjusted to the darkness inside when Logan led her outside and she nearly went blind from a flash of lightening. She stumbled and would have fallen had Logan not been there, towing her along.

"Almost there." He said in her ear.

Kate nodded and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She was concentrating so hard on remaining up right and moving forward that she failed to realize two, obvious, things. One, in spite of the very nasty storm raging overhead, neither herself not Logan were so much as damp. It was as if a giant bubble surrounded the two of them. Two, Logan was leading her to the biggest jet she had ever seen. Lightening split the sky just then, giving Kate a momentary glimpse at the giant black behmouh crouched next to the building. She stopped abruptly after seeing it, her mind saying 'Keep going' but her feet refusing to budge. Logan simply picked her up and carried her the last fifty yards to the jet.

Once her feet hit the gangplank, she was able to move on her own again and she followed Logan up into the belly of the jet. He led her to a seat towards the front of the jet and made certain she was strapped in properly before taking his own seat. Or, at least he tried. Kate's hand was still firmly clenched in his, preventing him from moving too far.

"You can let go now." He told her.

It took a moment for Logan's words to process in Kate's mind but once they did she released his hand, horrified at the gouges she had caused on his hand. "I'm so sorry." She mumbled.

"S'okay." He replied, sitting down in a seat across the asile.

Open mouthed and with eyes wide in shock and surprise, Kate stared at her new surroundings. Never before in her life had she ever seen, let alone be in such a high tech jet. She blinked, trying to process what exactly she was seeing. She blinked again, a new thought popping into her head. Just who was going to fly this thing anyway? Up at the very front of the jet, she caught a glimpse of a mane of silver hair.

"Storm?" she asked.

"That's right." Logan told her. "She's a great pilot."

She blinked again and swallowed, feeling a bit lightheaded and more than just a little nauseated. _No! I am not passing out._ She told herself sternly.

Footsteps echoed on the gangplank, making Kate twist in her seat to see who it was. Jean came into view first, with Scott coming up behind her, carrying Danny. The gangplank closed behind them as they walked up it and when it was completely closed, the storm outside lessened just a bit. Kate watched in stunned silence as Scott handed Danny to Jean, then walked past her and went into the cockpit to join Storm.

_Scott can fly a jet?_

All the new revelations were becoming a bit too much for Kate to try and understand but she was determined to keep from passing out, throwing up or both. The floor beneath her began to vibrate as the powerful engines came to life, lifting the jet into the vibrations shifted to a hum and then they were flying. Kate swallowed again, the nauseau rising in her throat. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened her eyes, Jean was next to her, dressed in head to toe leather like everyone else, concern radiating from her eyes.

Kate gave her a weak smile and said "If you're Emma Peel, what does that make Scott?"

She didn't remain conscious long enough to get an answer.

*****

When Kate opened her eyes again, she _still_ had a wanging headache, but she didn't feel like she'd been run over by a truck any more. She also knew where she was, she was in the Med-Lab. A frown crossed her face as she tried to remember how she had gotten there. When she couldn't, her face turned a shade of brilliant scarlet in embarrasment.

"I just HAD to pass out, didn't I?" She muttered.

"I don't know why people see fainting as a weakness. It's not, it's just the body's way of dealing with being overwhelmed." A familiar voice spoke above Kate's head.

Kate looked up and to the right and saw Jean looking completely and utterly normal.

"I suppose it has something to do with a perceived loss of control." Kate said, slowly sitting up. "Speaking of which, how long was I out?"

"Not very long, a couple of hours at most." Jean replied.

Kate nodded but winced almost immediately at the sudden pain that flared through her skull. "How's Danny?" she asked. "Where's Danny?"

Jean pointed at a curtained off cubicle several beds away. "He's over there, sleeping off the sedatives he was given."

Kate started to shake her head again but remember and didn't. "I don't understand. Why would someone want to hurt him. He's just a kid."

Jean shrugged. "You'd be surprised." She said, with just a touch of malice in her voice.

"After today, I don't think _anything_ would surprise me." Kate replied. "What time is it? What day is it?"

"It's still Tuesday but it's close to midnight." Jean said, stiffling a yawn.

"Is Hank coming? Tell me you're not going to be up all night." Kate asked.

Jean smiled. "Thank you for your concern. No, I'm not going to be up all night. Cecilia is here."

"Good."

"You've been talking to Scott again, haven't you?" Jean asked, stiffling another yawn.

"I'll never tell." Kate replied.

The conversation died away and the two woman found themselves staring at each other. Kate was dying to ask Jean about everything she had seen, the jet, the leather outfits, Logan's mutation, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"Kate, Professor Xavier is going to want to talk to you, both of you, about what happened." Jean told her.

_Great, maybe _he_ can explain the leather suits._

"He wants, we all want, to make sure you and Danny are…" Jean fell silent, looking for the right words.

"Make sure that we're dealing with it?" Kate supplied.

Jean thought, then nodded. "Yeah, that about describes it."

"I don't mind telling you," Kate said. "that I have never been so scared in all my life. Not even when the alarm went off here, was I that scared."

"That's understandable."

Kate looked at Jean for a long moment. "Can I ask a couple of questions?"

"Of course you can." Jean's brow furrowed for a moment.

"Even if they're about your Emma Peel fetish?"

It took a moment for Kate's meaning to sink in but when it did, Jean snorted and said "Yes, even that."

Kate made sure she was absolutely comfortable, then said "What's up with the outfits? Seeing Logan in head to toe black leather is not a sight I'm going to forget any time soon."

Another snort from Jean. "The explanation for that is…rather long." She paused. "Should I just begin at the beginning?"  
"Absolutely."

Jean looked over at Danny's cubicle, then looked back at Kate. "You know the how of how the majority of the kids get here but you don't know the why. We, Scott, Logan, Storm and myself, and occasionally Kurt, go out and get the kids and bring them back here. A lot of the time though, the adult in that child's life, the one with the power over that child, doesn't want the child to leave. Now, it would be wonderful to say that was because they would miss the child and care deeply for that child. That would be wrong. Usually by the time we get there, that child has, probably, already been through a lifetime of beatings and drugs of all kinds, all in the name of therapy, of course…" She paused for a moment, then looked at a stool. It obdiently rolled over to Jean and she sat down. "That child hates themselves, hates the world and everyone in it. They wonder what's wrong with them and why they were singled out. They're angry and we, all of us, happen to be a convienent target for that anger, and, not only that anger but the anger of the adult in their life."

"That makes sense." Kate said, slowly. "So, that's why you wear leather, for protection?"

Jean nodded. "Leather offers some of the best protection and with what we do, we need it."

Another question formed in Kate's mind but before she could open her mouth to ask, a memory popped into her head, robbing her of speech for the moment. She turned accusing eyes toward Jean. "Bobby's an X-Man? Isn't he a little young to be risking his neck, or leg, for that matter?"

"Yes, to both questions. Bobby is an X-Man, in training. Yes, he is a bit young but he's not that much younger than we were when we began the X-Men. I was the oldest at twenty-seven. Scott was the youngest at just over twenty."

It was a good thing that Kate was sitting down because she was starting to feel faint again. "Do his parents know?"

Jean chuckled. "Kate, Bobby's parents can barely wrap their minds around the fact that their son can freeze water just by touching it. So, I doubt that Bobby has broached the subject with them. Regardless, he is less than six months from his eighteenth birthday and he _is_ old enough to make such a decision." She gave Kate a look. "You don't have to agree, there are plenty of times when I don't."

The Med-Lab's doors slid open just then, admitting Scott and Cecilia. Jean turned and looked at Cecilia, then at Scott. "You don't trust me?" She asked Scott.

"I wouldn't call it a lack of trust. Rather, I know you too well." He said to Jean. He looked at Kate. "How are you feeling?"

Kate swallowed. "I've felt better but I'll live."

He nodded, then held out his hand to Jean. "Come on, time for bed."

Jean took his hand, then looked back at Kate before standing, giving her a 'Don't judge until you know all the facts' look. To her husband, she said "Are you going to tuck me in and read me a bedtime story?"

"Maybe, if you behave." Scott replied, totally straight faced.

"We'll see about that." Jean replied. She looked at Cecilia. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"You're welcome." Cecilia replied.

"C'mon you, bed." Scott said to Jean, towing her from the room.

They left behind some answers but more questions than ever before for Kate.

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

The next few days were both strange and familiar for Kate. She kept to her usual schedule but stayed at the mansion. A relapse from her bout with pneumonia was the reason given to Brenda. She talked to everyone as she normally did but some of the conversations were anything but normal, especially the ones she had with Professor Xavier. Sometimes Danny joined them, sometimes not. It didn't seem to matter wether he was physically present because he certainly wasn't mentally present. After the rescue and the return to the school, he had retreated back into his shell and refused to come out. It was like the past four months had never happened. Kate found that the most distressing part of the whole mess, as she referred to it. Try as she might, she couldn't get through to him, no one could. She began to wonder if Danny would ever come out and join the real world again.

******

"Jeez, Danny, don't be such a stick in the mud, make up your mind already." The frustrated growl of Todd Williams, Danny's 'partner' in class, reached Kate's ears just in time to avoid catastrophe. She turned and gave Danny the 'eye', which nudged him into picking the book in Todd's left hand, instead of throwing the books and Todd across the room.

_Well, that's something. We all have to start somewhere._

After class ended, Kate called after Danny. For moment, she thought he would ignore her and keep walking but, to her surprise, he stopped, turned and came back to her.

"I'm gonna be late." He mumbled, looking at the floor.

"Danny, I haven't said anything because nothing I could say would help. But you have to know that you are loved and appreciated by everyone here. Never forget that. Nothing that happened was your fault. Never forget that either."

Danny nodded but did not look up from the floor.

"You can go now. I don't want to make you any later than you already are." Kate said.

Danny shrugged, turned and walked back down the hall. She watched him go, feeling that somehow, she had let him down again.

***

Just that quickly, the school year ended and it was time for Field Day.

"I didn't know schools still held field days." Kate said to Storm, the morning of the event.

"Ah, but there are schools and then there is The Xavier School." Storm said to Kate.

"Okay, so, why didn't I know this was coming?" Kate asked.

"You knew, you just forgot. It's okay. If I didn't live here and wasn't surrounded by constant reminders, I would've forgotten myself." Storm replied, handing Kate a large plastic box. "Take this and give it to Jean, then come back and get another one."

"Have I been volunteered for something?" Kate asked.

"Yes, you have. You and Gordon volunteered to judge the water balloon toss." Storm replied.

"How Norman Rockwell." Kate muttered, heading toward the door.

"Now _that _would be a painting I'd like to see." Storm called after her.

After a slow start, the rest of the day went off without a hitch. In fact, it was the smoothest day Kate had had at the school. Well, there was that supposed 'mistossed' balloon that hit Kate square in the midsection, completely soaking her but that was all right, it was all meant in fun and her clothes died quickly in the sun.

Then, the last day of school was upon them. No classes were held that day no one could've concentrated anyway. Instead, the last day of school was pick up day for the children who lived with their parents during the summer. There was so much activity that Kate got out of the way, found a seat near the front door and settled in to people watch. That, and if any of her student's parents wanted to chat for a few minutes, she was there for that.

Not too many parents stopped by but, wonders of wonders, Danny did. Over the past two weeks, he had finally started to reemerge from his shell but he still had a long way to go to get back where he had been before the kidnapping. He _was_ talking in sentences again, instead of monosylabic responses.

"Miss Renard?" He asked.

"Yes, Danny?" She smiled and beckoned him to sit with her on the swinging lawn chaise that Logan and Scott had brough around to the front. He did.

"What are you doing this summer?" He asked.

"I am going to be teaching summer school here at the mansion." She replied.

"Really?"

"Yes, sir, Can't get rid of me that easily."

"Aw, cool!" A grin split Danny's face. It was the most animated Kate had seen him in the six weeks since the kidnapping.

She smiled in return and they sat and rocked and watched the world go by. It was good to just sit. It had been a challenging six months for both of them, teacher and student. They had both been irrevocably changed, not entirely for the better either, but that was all right. Change brought growth. Their trials, for the moment, were behind them. A whole summer was ahead of them, full of promise. What a change six months made.

_**THE END**_

_Thank you for reading this story. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. And while I don't forsee writing any more about this particular story, you never know. Thank you again. I really do appreciate it.  
_


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